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I 


MARTIAL 


THE    MODERNS 


BY 


ANDREW    AMOS,    ESQ. 

AUTHOR  OF  THE  RUINS  OF  TIME, 
CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  KING  CHARLES  II.  *e. 


CAMBRIDGE : 

DEIGHTON,    BELL    AND    CO. 

LONDON :  BELL  AND  DALDY. 

1858. 


<&zxtibxtis$zt 

PRINTED     BY     C.    J.    CLAY,   M. 
AT   THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 


PREFACE. 


This  Book  consists  of  a  translation  into  English 
prose  of  select  epigrams  of  Martial  arranged  under 
heads,  with  examples  of  the  modern  uses  to  which 
they  have  been  applied.  It  is  addressed  to  the  few 
persons  who  may  have  similar  tastes  with  the  Author ; 
to  them  he  hopes  it  may  prove  both  agreeable  and 
instructive.  It  is  the  confidence,  fortified  by  past  ex- 
perience, of  the  realization  of  such  a  hope  which  has 
imparted  a  charm  to  what  otherwise  would  have  been 
an  unsocial  literary  enjoyment.  The  objects  towards 
which  this  inquiry  has  been  directed  are,  those  of  ascer- 
taining how  much  a  classical  author,  whose  works  have 
fallen  into  neglect,  may  have  contributed  to  forming 
the  character  and  advancing  the  progress  of  English 
literature?  how  far  the  use  of  his  writings,  whether 
rational  or  pedantic,  pertinent  or  misplaced,  is  illus- 
trative of  the  education,  tastes,  and  modes  of  expression 
that  have  prevailed,  at  any  period,  among  our  eminent 
countrymen?  to  what  extent  we  may  reckon  that  a 
valuable  portion  of  the  compositions  of  our  distinguished 

a  2 


IV  PREFACE. 

authors  have  been  culled  from  his  pages?  what  skill 
has  been  exhibited  in  the  modern  adaptation  of  his 
thoughts  or  language?  Collaterally,  it  is  conceived 
that  numerous  matters  extracted  from  Martial's  writings 
will  be  found  in  this  work,  that  are  interesting  inde- 
pendently of  their  conversion  to  any  modern  use. 

The  causes  why  Martial's  works  are  seldom  read 
in  the  present  day,  are  various.     A  large  part  of  his 
epigrams  have  reference  to  odious  vices  which,  in  his 
time,  were  undisguisedly  dilated  upon  in  poetry,  and 
which  render  his  book  unfit  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
youth.     In  some  editions  of  Martial,  indeed,  epigrams 
of  this  nature  are  entirely  omitted :  the  Delphin  editors 
have  transposed  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  to 
a  separate  sheep-fold,  but  they  have  been  very  far  from 
making  a  clearance  of  this  Augean  stable.     Such  epi- 
grams, however,  it  may  be  observed,  are  not  without 
a  use,  as  furnishing  remarkable  proofs  of  the  prevalence 
of  those   abominations,   which,    as   appears  from   the 
Scriptures,  were  objects  of  aversion  and  reprobation 
among   the   early  Christians.     Moreover,    it   may  be 
observed,  that,  out  of  the  very  epigrams  defiled  by 
gross  images,    several   of   our   eminent   writers  have 
derived  reflections  in  aid  of  morality  and  religion,  as 
it  were,  refined  gold  out  of  heaps  of  impure  dross*. 
Nor  can  we  forget  that  several  of  our  own  authors  of 
repute,  as,  for  instance,  Shakspere,  Swift,  Prior,  Field- 
ing, and  others  of  great  name,  have  left  many  a  line 
which  every  friend  to  decency  would  wish  to  blot. 


PREFACE.  V 

Further,  as  Martial  flourished  nearly  a  hundred 
years  after  the  Augustan  period,  he  does  not  afford 
so  choice  a  model  of  the  purity  of  the  Roman  language 
as  some  earlier  classical  writers.  For  this  reason  we 
are  told  that  Navagero,  a  great  Italian  scholar  in  the 
pontificate  of  Leo  X.,  used,  annually,  to  burn  a  volume 
of  Martial's  works,  by  way  of  incense  to  the  Manes 
of  the  Augustan  poets.  It  may  appear  to  many, 
that,  of  late  years,  in  this  country,  education  has  been 
directed  rather  to  the  philology  and  diction  of  the 
Roman  authors,  than  to  their  information  and  reflec- 
tions; to  exercises  which,  indeed,  invigorate  the  mind, 
but  of  which  the  scope  is  rather  that  of  the  husks  than 
of  the  fruits  of  knowledge.  Besides,  at  our  Universities, 
students  are  regarded  as  examinable  beings;  and  clas- 
sical examinations  are  a  species  of  andrometer  better 
adapted  to  the  niceties  of  language,  than  to  degrees 
of  proficiency  in  modern  uses  of  ancient  literature. 

It  will  be  allowed,  moreover,  that,  in  the  period  of 
youth,  compositions  which  exalt  the  sentiments  and 
inspire  the  imagination  are  the  most  congenial  and 
digestible  food  of  the  mind ;  whereas  that  which  is  the 
principal  subject  of  Martial's  writings,  viz.  human 
nature  portrayed  under  the  multiform  circumstances  of 
civilized  life,  is  more  peculiarly  suited  to  the  require- 
ments of  persons  of  ripe  years,  and  conversant  with  the 
mores  hominum  multorum. 

To  those  who  might  be  desirous  of  reading  Martial, 
as  an   author   treating  of  human  character,   and  the 


VI  PREFACE. 

manners  of  ancient  life,  much  difficulty  often  occurs 
in  the  interpretation  of  obscure  and  controverted  pas- 
sages ;  and  the  sense  of  an  epigram  is  very  frequently 
unintelligible,  owing  to  its  having  some  pointed  allusion 
to  particular  persons  or  circumstances  the  memory 
whereof  is  altogether  lost  by  lapse  of  time.  Poets 
who  seek  lasting  marble  must  choose  lasting  topics: 
it  is  not  enough  that  they  comply  with  Waller's  con- 
dition of  "  carving  in  Latin  or  in  Greek." 

Martial  has  received  some  prejudice  from  its  being 
supposed,  in  modern  times,  that  every  epigram  had 
its  sting,  and  was  always  an  attempt,  more  or  less 
successful,  at  some  flash  of  wit;  whereas,  the  term 
anciently  signified  an  inscription,  of  which  the  recom- 
mendations are  that  it  should  be  brief,  and  simple, 
but  not  necessarily  facetious.  It  is  true  that  Martial 
labours  to  give  to  the  last  line  or  two  of  his  epigrams 
a  sharper  edge  than  was  the  practice  of  Catullus,  who 
followed  more  closely  the  patterns  of  the  Greeks ;  yet  he 
expressly  repudiates  the  notion  that  epigrams  are  merely 
subservient  to  wit.  Martial's  works,  however,  may, 
sometimes,  excite  admiration  for  this  quality;  but, 
more  frequently,  for  their  humour,  irony,  ridicule,  good 
sense,  and  sagacity. 

With  regard  to  the  execution  of  this  work; — a 
selection  has  been  made,  out  of  between  fifteen  and 
sixteen  hundred  epigrams,  subject  to  two  conditions; 
first,  that  every  epigram  selected  should  have  been 
applied  to  some  modern  use;  secondly,  that  each  epi- 


PREFACE.  Vll 

gram  and  the  instance  of  its  modern  use,  or,  at  least, 
one  or  the  other,  should  contain  matter  of  interest  to 
the  general  reader.  The  only  part  of  this  plan  which 
may  be  thought  to  operate  unfairly  to  Martial's  re- 
putation, is,  that  some  epigrams  are  excluded  which 
have  more  merit  than  some  which  are  inserted,  and 
this,  simply  for  the  reason  that  no  modern  use  happens 
to  have  been  made  of  them.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  not  Martial,  but  the  modern  use  of  Martial, 
which  is  the  paramount  subject  of  this  book.  More- 
over, the  test,  however  imperfect,  of  a  modern  use, 
is  so  far  practically  an  indication  of  merit,  as  that 
all,  or  nearly  all,  the  best  epigrams  of  Martial  will 
be,  probably,  allowed  to  have  found  a  place,  agree- 
ably to  that  test,  in  the  present  jcollection,  and  that 
there  are  few  epigrams  omitted  in  which  there  is  much 
talent,  and  little  grossness. 

It  has  been  thought  convenient  for  the  development 
of  the  subject  of  the  book  to  arrange  it  under  heads  of 
chapters  that  correspond  with  the  original  purport  of 
the  epigrams;  exhibiting,  at  the  foot  of  each  epigram, 
the  modern  use  or  uses  to  which  it  has  been  applied. 
No  small  collateral  benefit,  it  is  conceived,  will  result 
from  the  present  plan,  viz.  that  whereas  Martial's 
multitudinous  epigrams  are  usually  huddled  toge- 
ther, those  that  have  been  here  selected  will  be  found 
to  contribute  mutual  aid,  from  their  arrangement, 
towards  the  illustration  of  interesting  subjects,  and 
of  each  other. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

The  principal  difficulty  experienced  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  this  work  has  been  that  of  distinguishing 
between  modern  uses,  and  parallel  passages,  or  un- 
designed coincidences  of  sentiment  or  description.  The 
instances  cited  will  "be  generally  found  to  carry 
Martial's  ear-marks;  but,  on  some  occasions,  it  has  been 
impossible  to  carry  the  inquiry  beyond  conjecture  or 
possibility.  In  conjectural  cases  differences  of  opinion 
may  be  anticipated  on  the  question,  whether  a  particular 
quotation  adduced  is  an  example  of  a  modern  use,  or  is  a 
parallel  passage?  as  to  which  point,  it  is  trusted,  that 
due  allowance  will  be  made  for  diversity  of  literary 
information  or  taste,  and  that  it  will  be  borne  in  mind 
how  much,  in  such  an  inquiry,  depends  on  the  fami- 
liarity of  an  author  quoted  with  Martial's  works,  and 
on  his  practice  of  rifling  their  treasures*. 

The  epigrams  of  Martial  selected  for  this  work  are 
all  translated  into  English  Prose;  but  there  is  a  re- 
ference, at  the  conclusion  of  each,  to  the  Latin  original, 
according  to  the  Delphin  edition.  It  should  be  here 
mentioned,  that  the  Author  disclaims  any  merit  for 
elucidating  to  the  learned  reader  the  text  of  Martial; 

*  The  niceties  of  literary  filiation  may  be  exemplified  by  Pope's  well-known 
inscription  on  the  collar  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  dog,  viz. 

I  am  his  Highness's  dog  at  Kew, 
Pray  tell  me,  Sir!  whose  dog  are  you? 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  in  Sir  William  Temple's  Heads  designed  for  an  Essay 
on  Conversation,  we  find,  "  Mr  Grantham's  fooVs  reply  to  a  great  man  that  asked 
him  whose  fool  he  was?  I  am  Mr  Grantham's  fool:  pray,  whose  fool  are  you?" — 
Did  Pope  borrow  from  the  fool  ? 


PREFACE.  IX 

the  philologist  will  not,  it  is  expected,  find  in  this 
work  any  discovery  to  repay  him  for  the  task  of  read- 
ing it,  and  might  sometimes  meet  with  solecisms  that 
would  provoke  his  choler.  It  is,  however,  satisfactory, 
that  the  modern  uses  subjoined,  especially  the  trans- 
lations in  prose  and  verse  by  eminent  writers,  afford, 
in  many  instances,  a  touchstone,  by  means  of  which 
any  errors  of  the  author  can  be  detected  and  rectified. 
Considering  that  the  work  is  addressed  to  students  of 
English  literature,  and  persons  conversant  with  human 
nature,  or  desirous  of  becoming  so,  rather  than  to  pro- 
found Latin  scholars,  it  is  conceived  that  most  of  its 
readers  will  be  thankful  for  translations;  it  is  not 
denied  that  the  modern  uses  of  Martial  may  some- 
times be  more  apparent  from  the  original  epigrams 
than  from  any  translation,  to  such  as  can  swim  without 
corks. 

It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  explain  why  Martial's 
epigrams  have  been  translated,  in  this  collection,  into 
prose,  rather  than  verse.  It  may  be  observed,  that 
poetical  versions  of  most  of  the  epigrams  best  suited 
to  poetry  are  adduced,  at  the  foot  of  them,  in  the 
character  of  modern  uses;  such  versions,  when  made 
by  eminent  authors,  as  Cowley,  Ben  Jonson,  Addison, 
and  Pope,  being  part  of  the  standard  literature  of  the 
country.  Moreover,  the  generality  of  Martial's  epi- 
grams have  not  been  penned  in  any  very  elevated 
region  of  Parnassus:  he  is  almost  silent  upon  the 
inspiring  theme  of  most  of  the   short   poems  of  our 


X  PREFACE. 

own  literature,  viz.  love :  his  epigrams  relate  chiefly  to 
transactions  of  private  life  which  are  not  of  a  romantic 
or  impassioned  character,  and  to  things  as  they  are. 

The  Author's  task  has  not  been  conducted  in  so 
strait-laced  a  manner,  as  to  exclude,  in  a  few  instances, 
explanations  and  illustrations  of  the  original  epigrams, 
additively  to  examples  of  modern  uses.  It  is  hoped 
that  such  a  course  will  be  found  to  facilitate  and  enliven 
the  progress  of  the  reader,  without  impertinently  divert- 
ing his  attention  from  the  main  objects  of  the  work. 

St  Ibbs,  Hitchin,  Herts. 
March,  1858. 


CONTENTS. 


KPIGKAM 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 


XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVHI. 

XIX. 

XX. 
XXI. 
XXII. 

xxm. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 
XXVI. 
XXVII. 
XXVIII 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGH 

PUBLIC  SHOWS i 

The  Hare  and  the  Lion 3 

Litter  of  Wild  Pigs 5 

The  Lion  that  worried  his  Keeper 6 

Victor  and  Vanquished 7 

Laureolus 9 

Orpheus io 

Hero  and  Leander n 

Mucius  Scaevola 12 

Scorpus,  the  Charioteer .14 

Epitaph  on  Scorpus              15 

Paris,  the  Actor 16 

CHAPTER  II. 

LITEPvATUKE 18 

Friendship  in  Literary  Fame      .......  ib. 

Solid  Books 21 

Uniform  Brilliancy     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .         -23 

Relevancy           ..........  24 

Prolixity    ...........  26 

Eoughness  and  Obscurity .         .  ib. 

Poetic  Licence 28 

Difficult  Trifles ig 

Fit  Themes         .         . 31 

Vices,  not  Persons 32 

Extemporary  Poems 34 

Books,  partly  good 35 

Critics  compared  to  Cooks 36 

Vatican  Wine  for  Critics 37 

Misspent  Criticism 38 

Rhinoceros'  Noses                39 

Reciprocating  Critics 41 

Deceased  Poets .  42 

Posthumous  Works             43 

Images  in  Verse  and  in  Painting 44 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

EPIGRAM  PAGB 

XXXII.  A  Reciter  of  bought  Verses 45 

XXXIII.  Author  made  by  Recitation 46 

XXXIV.  Importunate  Reciter 47 

XXXV.  Poet  and  Muse 49 

XXXVI.  A  welcomed  Author 51 

XXXVII.  Readers 52 

XXXVIII.  Remuneration  of  Authors  .         .         .         .         .         .         -S3 

XXXIX.  Author  in  want  of  a  Cloak 56 

XL.  Advantages  of  a  Patron 57 

XLI.  A  willing  Patron 58 

XL1I.  An  Attic  Patron       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  59 

XLIII.  Plagiaries 60 

XLIV.  Booksellers .62 

XLV.  Author's  Portrait 63 

XL VI.  Square  MSS .         .64 

XL  VII.  Explicit.     Cornua 65 

XL VIII.  Book- Sponge 66 

XLIX.  Writing-tablets 67 

L.  Short-hand 68 

LI.  Martial ib. 

LII.  Quintilian          .         .         . 69 

LILT.  Juvenal 71 

LIV.  Catullus's  Sparrow 72 

LV.  Virgil's  Tomb 74 

LVI.  Silius  Italicus 75 

LVII.  Pliny        . 76 


CHAPTER  III. 

GENERAL  LIFE 79 

LVIII.       A  Happy  Life.         . 80 

LIX.        Road  to  Happiness 84 

LX.          Living  twice 87 

LXL  Prolonging  Life         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .89 

LXII.       Healthy  Life 90 

LXIII.      Verge  of  Life 91 

LXIV.       Prosperous  Iniquity 92 

LXV.        Choice  of  a  Profession -93 

LXVI.       Procrastination 95 

LXVIL      Dying,  for  fear  of  Death 96 

LXVIIL    Suicide 98 

LXIX.      Dying  for  another 99 

LXX.       Boy  killed  by  an  Icicle 100 

LXXI.       Death  by  Dream  of  a  Physician ior 

LXXII.      Connubial  Felicity ib. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

EPIGRAM  PAGE 

LXXIII.     A  Rich  Wife 103 

LXXIV.      Mutual  Friendship . ib. 

LXXV.       Intimate  Friends 105 

LXXVI.      New  Friends .  106 

LXXVIL     Gifts  to  Friends 107 

LXXVIII.    Proclaiming  Obligations 109 

LXXIX.      Entertaining  Companion  .         , no 

LXXX.      A  Model  Character in 

LXXXI.      Changes  of  Character      . 112 

LXXXTI.     Favourite  of  Providence 113 

LXXXIII.  Physiognomy           .         .         .      .    .         *         .         .         .         .115 

LXXXIV.    Loved,  when  unseen       . 116 

LXXXV.     Not  to  be  lived  with,  nor  lived  without 117 

LXXXVI.   Antipathy ,         .118 

LXXXVII.  Pleased  by  none 119 

LXXX VIII.  Nursery  Governor 120 

LXXXIX.    Unseasonable  Advice 121 

XC.  Indiscriminate  Praise       .         .         .         .    •     .         .         .         .   122 

XCI.  Affectation  of  Real  Poverty     .         .         .         .    -    .         .         .    ib. 

XCII.         Sufficient  Fortune .123 

XCIII.        Buy  all,  sell  all ,         .         .124 

XCIV.        Complicated  Vices  .         . 125 

XCV.        Feigned  Tears ib. 

XCVI.        Simulated  Complaints     .         . 126 

XCVII.       Disinherited,  by  inheriting 127 

XCVIII.      Physician  turned  Undertaker 128 

XCIX.  A  pilfering  Physician      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .   129 

C.  Paving  on  Naevia ib. 

CI.  Unbecoming  Smiles 131 

CII.  Building  and  Bestowing           .         .         .         ...         .         .132 

CIII.         Plurality  of  Residences .         .133 

CIV.         A  House  for  Show 134 

CV.  A  neighbourless  Neighbour ib. 

CVI.         Epitaph  on  Glaucias 136 

CVII.        Elegy  on  Erotion 138 

CVIIL        Elegy  on  Alcimus 140 

CHAPTER  IV. 


ROMAN  LIFE 

.   141 

CIX. 

Conflux  of  Nations 

.   143 

ex. 

Cries  of  Rome 

.   145 

CXI. 

Horary  Occupations 

.   148 

CXII. 

Country  Life 

.   150 

CXIII. 

A  Rustic  Villa 

•   153 

XIV  CONTENTS. 

BPIGRAM  PAGa 

CXIV.  Rex,  and  Salutations         .         .         .         .         .  .         .158 

CXV.  How  to  live  without  a  Rex       .         .         ,         .         .         .         .160 

CXVI.  Seats  at  the  Theatre 16  r 

CXVII.  Slaves 163 

CXVIII.  Manumission 165 

CXIX.  A  Slave-fool ^6 

CXX.  Saturnalia 167 

CXXI.  Dinner  Charts  .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .169 

CXXII.  Supper  of  Perfume 173 

CXXIII.  Walking  Suppers 174 

CXXIV.  Mixing  Wines  .         . 175 

CXXV.  Drinking  Names 176 

CXXVI.  Suppers  nigh  Tombs 179 

CXXVII.  Supper-hunting  at  Porticos  and  Baths 180 

CXXVIII.  Supper-hunting  by  News-telling 181 

CXXIX.  Supper-hunting  by  crying  Sophos      ......   183 

CXXX.  Legacy-hunting 184 

CXXXI.  Social  Games 186 

CXXXII.  Multiplied  Marriages ib. 

CXXXIII.  Widowed  Step-mothers 187 

CXXXIV.  Begging  Incendiary 189 

CXXXV.  Dandies 190 

CXXXVI.  The  Kissing  Nuisance      . 192 

CXXXVII.  Roman  Barbers 193 

CXXXVIII.  False  Hair i95 

CXXXIX.  Hair-cutting    .         .         . i96 

CXL.  Dyeing  Hair t"6. 

CHAPTER  V. 

ROMAN  HISTORY 198 

CXLI.       Arria j^p 

CXLII.      Mucius  Scaevola .         .201 

CXLIII.     Portia 202 

CXLTV.     Cicero 204 

CXLV.      Antony -         205 

CXL  VI.      Pompey 206 

CXLVII.    Otho,  Cato 207 

CXLVIII.  Domitian's  return  from  the  Sarmatian  War       ....  208 

CXLIX.      Domitian  loved .         .         .  209 

CL.  Domitian  a  Maecenas 211 

CLI.         Nerva's  Accession 212 

CLII.        Trajan's  restitution 2is 

CLIII.       Trajan's  entry  into  Rome 216 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGB 

digram  MYTHOLOGY 218 

CLIV.  Jupiter .  219 

CLV.  Minerva       . 220 

CLVI.  Apollo  .         . 22i 

CLVII.  Bacchus 222 

CLVIII.  Mercury 223 

CLIX.  Hercules 225 

CLX.  Janus  ...........  228 

CLXI.  Rome 230 

CLXII.  The  Rhine 231 

CLXIIL  Bsetis  (the  Gualdalquiver)    , ft,, 

CLXIV.  Priapus 233 

CLXV.  Sacrifices 234 

CLXVI.  Bankruptcy  in  Olympus 235 

CHAPTER  VII. 

TOPOGRAPHY 236 

CLXVIL  Vesuvius 237 

CLXVin.  Baiae 239 

CLXLX.  Baiae  and  Tibur 241 

CLXX.  Tibur  (Tivoli) .242 

CLXXI.  Anxur  (Terracina) 243 

CLXXII.  Narni  (Narnia) .         ,246 

CLXXIII.  Ravenna 247 

CLXXTV.  Formiae  (Mola) 248 

CLXXV.  Janiculum 2e.o 

CLXXVI.  Colisaeum .252 

CLXXVII.  Palatium s54 

CLXXVIII.  Nero's  Palace 255 

CLXXIX.  Streets  of  Rome 357 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

MOVEABLES 259 

CLXXX.  Apophoreta afa 

CLXXXI.  Bazaar 2g3 

CLXXXII.  Antiques ^55 

CLXXXIII.  ReHc a6; 

CLXXXIV.  Table  Hercules *  268 

CLXXXV.  Mental  Portrait ^g 

CLXXXVI.  Picture  of  a  Lap-dog a*0 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

EPIGRAM  PAGB 

CLXXXVII.    Swan 271 

CLXXXVIII.  Magpie 272 

CLXXXIX.     A  Bird-cage 273 

CXC.  Tumbler ib. 

CXCI.  Eabbit 274 

CXCII.         Insects  in  Amber 275 

CXCIII.        Flowers  and  Fruits 276 

CXCIV.         Onion 278 

CXCV.  Porcelain 279 

CXC  VI.        Chasings  of  Metals 280 

CXCVII.       Basket 281 

CXCVIII.      Belt .282 

CXCIX.        Napkin ib. 

CC.  Table  Utensils  and  Attire 284 

CCI.  Abolla .285 

Appendix.  Miscellaneous  Examples  of  the  modern  use  of  Martial         .  287 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
PUBLIC    SHOWS. 

Martial  composed  a  book  consisting  of  thirty-one  epi- 
grams on  the  subject  of  the  Public  Shows  exhibited  in  those 
stupendous  edifices  that  are  said  to  have  unpeopled  Rome 
on  the  days  of  its  festivals.  These  exhibitions  took  place 
in  the  amphitheatre,  the  theatre,  and  the  circus.  The  reader 
will  not  fail  to  notice  the  frivolity  of  many  of  the  amusements 
which  diverted,  and  sometimes  inflamed,  the  Roman  people ; 
and  his  humane  feelings  must  be  shocked,  as  well  at  the 
recital  of  death-combats  between  professional  gladiators,  as 
of  the  capital  punishments  of  malefactors  exposed  to  wild 
beasts,  and  otherwise  tortured  to  death  amid  scenical  deco- 
rations purposely  adapted  to  the  tragical  spectacle.  The 
cruelty  to  animals  in  the  amphitheatre,  though  eclipsed  by 
more  savage  atrocities,  would  not  in  the  present  day,  in  this 
country,  escape  the  animadversion  of  a  laudable  Society  in- 
stituted for  their  protection.  Reflections  will  occur  on  the 
barbarity,  in  point  of  morals,  of  a  nation,  among  whom  a 
favourite  poet  could  court  renown  by  the  celebration  of 
scenes  replete  with  horror  and  inhumanity. 

An  additional  interest  is  imparted  to  the  Roman  public 
shows  from  the  circumstance  of  the  early  Christians  having 
been  often  exposed  to  beasts,  as  happened,  according  to 
our  version,  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  at  Ephesus.  On  account 
of  the    cruelty   of   such    spectacles,   and    of  the    idolatry 

MART.  B 


2  MARTIAL  AND   THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

interwoven  with  them,  the  public  sports  of  the  Romans  are 
frequently  censured  by  the  early  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
Indeed,  the  Fathers  may  be  thought  to  have  been  some- 
times transported  by  intemperate  zeal  against  such  abomi- 
nations. Thus  Tertullian,  in  a  book  written  on  the  subject 
of  public  shows,  anticipates,  with  glowing  satisfaction,  at  the 
Day  of  Judgment,  such  a  public  show  as  neither  a  Consul, 
nor  a  Praetor,  nor  a  Quaestor,  out  of  their  purses  (de  sua  libe- 
ralite)  can  afford.  "At  this  show,"  he  writes,  "the  charioteer 
of  the  circus  will  look  red  with  the  flames  of  his  own  wheels 
(auriga  in  flammed  rota  totus  rubens);  and  other  conflagra- 
tions, forming  part  of  the  same  gratifying  spectacle,  will 
surpass,  in  the  delight  they  afford,  any  thing  that  has  been 
witnessed  in  the  amphitheatre,  theatre,  circus,  or  any  sta- 
dium in  the  world/'  (Credo  circo,  et  utrdque  caved  et  omni 
stadio  gratiora.) 

With  regard  to  the  modern  uses  of  the  epigrams  con- 
tained in  the  present  chapter,  they  have  been  chiefly  directed 
to  purposes  totally  alien  from  Martial's  object.  This  is,  per- 
haps, more  the  case  in  the  present  than  in  any  other  chapter ; 
owing,  probably,  to  the  circumstance,  that,  in  England,  we 
have  differed  more  from  ancient  Rome  in  regard  to  our  public 
shows,  than  in  most  other  features  of  our  morals  and  manners, 
notwithstanding  that  English  literature  comprises  some  lively 
descriptions  of  bear-baits  and  cock-fights. 


I.]  PUBLIC    SHOWS.  3 

EPIGRAM  I. 

THE  HARE  AND  THE  LION. 

I. 

0  hare  !  although  you  enter  the  vast  mouth  of  the  grim 
lion,  he  seems  unaware  that  there  is  anything  in  it  to  feed 
on  with  his  teeth.  Where  is  the  back  on  which  he  can 
spring?  Where  the  shoulders  on  which  he  can  cast  him- 
self? Where  can  he  imprint  a  deep  wound  as  on  a  fat 
bullock?  Why  do  you  futilely  fatigue  the  king  of  the 
woods?  He  does  not  feed  except  upon  prey  of  his  own 
choice. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  lxi. 

ii. 

Why,  0  hare!  do  you  fly  from  the  terrible  mouth  of 
the  placid  lion?  That  mouth  has  not  learnt  how  to  crush 
small  animals.  Those  talons  are  kept  for  large  necks:  nor 
is  the  immense  thirst  of  a  lion  to  be  quenched  with  a 
slender  stream  of  blood.  A  hare  is  the  appropriate  prey 
of  dogs,  it  does  not  fill  a  lion's  gaping  jaws.  In  like 
manner,  the  Dacian  child  is  not  terrified  at  the  arms  of 
Csesar—  Lib.  i.  Ep.  xxm. 

The  above  two  epigrams  are  selected  out  of  a  considerable  number 
which  Martial  composed  upon  a  subject  that  appears  to  have  excited 
absorbing  interest  at  Home, — a  Hare  which,  in  the  Amphitheatre, 
used  to  be  pursued  and  caught  by  a  Lion,  who  set  it  free  again  from 
its  jaws  without  injury.  Statius  has  also  commemorated  this  once 
attractive  spectacle. 

A  contribution  from  each  of  the  above  epigrams  (as  marked  in 
Italics),  composes  the  distich  which  was  inscribed  under  the  famous 
Lion's  mouth  of  the  Guardian  : 

Servantur  magnis  isti  cervicibus  ungues, 
Non  nisi  delecta  pascitur  ille  fera. 

B2 


4  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

In  the  98th  number  of  the  Guardian  an  intention  is  announced 
of  erecting  a  Lion's  Head,  in  imitation  of  the  famous  one  at  Venice, 
with  a  voracious  mouth  for  receiving  communications,  at  Button's 
Coffee-house  in  Covent  Garden.  In  the  114th  number  it  is  stated 
that  the  Lion's  Head  was  then  erected,  and  a  humourous  description 
is  given  of  the  Lion's  character  and  functions.  In  the  Preface  to 
the  Englishman,  which  was  a  sequel  to  the  Guardian,  it  is  an- 
nounced that  the  editor  had  purchased  the  Guardian's  Lion;  the 
Lion's  Head  is  still  in  existence.  It  is  remarkable  that,  in  the  first 
number  of  the  Guardian,  correspondents  are  directed  to  address 
their  communications  '  post-paid,  to  Nestor  Ironside,  Esq.,  at  Mr 
Jonson's,  in  the  Strand.'  There  are  175  numbers  of  the  Guardian, 
in  which  Addison  did  not  take  a  part  until  No.  67,  and  only 
once  after  that,  until  No.  97,  when  he  wrote  without  interruption 
for  twenty-seven  numbers;  this  being  the  period  of  Steele's  embar- 
rassments. It  will  be  observed  that  the  Lion's  Head  was  set  up  at 
the  time  of  Addison  taking  the  temporary  management  of  the 
Guardian.  Button,  at  whose  coffee-house  the  Lion's  Head  was  set 
up,  was  patronized  by  Addison ;  he  liad  been  a  servant  of  Addison's 
wife's  family;  his  Christian-name  of  Daniel  is  played  upon,  in  the 
Guardian,  in  connexion  with  his  Lion. 

Ben  Jonson  appears  to  have  adverted  to  Martial's  epigrams  on 
the  Lion  and  Hare  in  an  epigram  in  which  he  attacks  the  celebrated 
architect,  Inigo  Jones: 

Sir  Inigo  doth  fear  it,  as  I  hear, 

And  labors  to  seem  worthy  of  that  fear, 

That  I  should  write  upon  him  some  sharp  verse, 

Able  to  eat  into  his  bones,  and  pierce 

Their  marrow.     Wretch!  I  quit  thee  of  thy  pain, 

Thou'rt  too  ambitious,  and  dost  fear  in  vain: 

The  Lybian  lion  hunts  no  butterflies, 

He  makes  the  camel  and  dull  ass  his  prize. 

*  *  *  -X-  * 

Thy  forehead  is  too  narrow  for  my  brand. 

In  the  lines  of  Ben  Jonson  just  quoted,  the  epithet  ambitious  is, 
probably,  borrowed  from  the  same  epithet  applied  to  the  hare  in 
another  epigram  of  Martial,  in  which  it  is  addressed,  'ambitious 
hare!'    {ambitiose   lepus).      The   last   of  Jonson's   lines   seems  to  be 


I.]  PUBLIC    SHOWS.  5 

ingeniously  concocted  in  part  of  the  epigrams  on  the  Hare  and  Lion, 
and  partly  of  an  epigram  of  Martial  upon  a  poet  of  the  name  of 
Ligurra.     Jonson's  last  line  is  preceded  by  the  following : — 

Seek  out  some  hungry  painter,  that  for  bread 
With  rotten  coal  or  chalk  upon  the  wall 
Will  well  design  thee  to  be  viewed  of  all; 
Thy  forehead  is  too  narrow  for  my  brand. 

Ligurra  is  said  by  Martial  to  write  verses  on  walls  carbone  rvdi 
putrique  creta,  or,  as  Boileau  has  applied  it  to  a  contemporary  poet, 
charbonner  de  ses  vers  les  murs,  and  Martial  parts  with  Ligurra  in 
the  terms,  Frons  hcec  stigmate  non  meo  notanda  est. 


II. 
LITTER  OF  WILD  PIGS. 

The  savage  sow  gave  birth  to  the  litter  of  which  it  was 
pregnant,  on  being  made  a  parent  by  the  fatal  wound  it 
sustained.  The  young  offspring  did  not  tarry  with  their 
stricken  mother,  but  ran  off.  Wonderful  is  the  subtlety 
which  may  be  developed  by  accident! — Sped.  Lib.  xiv. 

The  phenomenon  of  the  stricken  sow  and  her  litter  in  the  Am- 
phitheatre is  the  subject  of  three  epigrams  of  Martial.  In  one  of 
them  he  adverts  to  the  double  function  of  Diana,  killing  beasts  and 
presiding  over  child-birth.  In  another,  the  poet  discovers  an  ana- 
logy to  the  birth  of  Bacchus,  who  was  saved  from  his  mother  Semele's 
womb  when  she  was  burnt,  and  completed  the  period  of  gestation  in 
Jupiter's  thigh. 

The  concluding  reflection  of  the  epigram  concerning  Accident  is, 
perhaps,  not  particularly  appropriate  or  edifying;  but  it  is  remark- 
able for  its  modern  use,  as  having  been  employed  by  Lord  Bacon. 
King  James  was  under  great  alarm  lest  the  Earl  of  Somerset,  at  his 
trial  for  poisoning  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,   should   make  revelations. 


6  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

He  accordingly  enjoined  Bacon,  then  Attorney-General,  to  suggest 
in  writing  all  the  contingencies  which  he  conjectured  might  occur  at 
the  trial,  together  with  his  opinion  as  to  the  best  way  of  encoun- 
tering them.  Lord  Bacon  prefaces  his  letter  containing  the  result 
of  his  anticipations  and  suggestions  with  a  salvo,  that  accidents  might 
happen  beyond  the  reach  of  human  foresight :  upon  which  point  he 
observes,  "  I  cannot  forget  what  the  poet  Martial  saith,  '  0  quantum 
est  subitis  casibus  ingenium  P  signifying  that  accident  is  many  times 
more  subtle  than  foresight,  and  overreacheth  expectation." 


III. 
THE  LION  THAT  WORRIED  HIS  KEEPER. 

The  lion  injured  his  keeper  with  an  ungrateful  mouth, 
and  dared  to  tear  the  hands  with  which  he  had  been  fa- 
miliar. But  he  suffered  a  punishment  worthy  of  his  crime; 
he  would  not  endure  blows,  he  endured  darts.  What  morals 
become  the  people  of  that  Prince  who  imposes  a  milder 
disposition  on  brutes! — Speet.x. 

The  inhumanity  and  adulation  of  the  above  epigram  would  not 
have  been  obtruded  on  the  reader,  but  for  the  curious  use  made  of  it 
by  Jeremy  Taylor.  In  a  Discourse  on  Ecclesiastical  Penance,  he 
observes  that  self-affliction  is  the  fruit  of  repentance,  and  that  they 
who  refuse  to  endure  it,  may  probably  endure  something  worse, 
quoting  from  Martial  (as  in  Italics), 

Et  qui  non  tulerit  verbera,  tela  tulit. 


I.]  PUBLIC    SHOWS.  7 

IV. 

VICTOR   AND   VANQUISHED. 

When  Priscus  and  Verus  each  prolonged  the  combat, 
and  Mars  for  a  long  time  hesitated  to  declare  a  victory, 
the  people  made  repeated  supplications  to  the  Emperor 
that  the  combatants  might  be  dismissed;  but  Csesar  obeyed 
a  law  of  his  own.  The  law  was,  that  the  gladiators  should 
fight  on  for  the  palm  till  one  of  them  raised  his  finger 
(in  token  of  being  vanquished);  but  they  were  permitted 
to  take  refreshment,  and  receive  gifts.  Yet  an  end  was 
discovered  of  this  balanced  conflict;  equals  they  fought, 
equals  they  gave  up  the  fight.  Csesar  sent  to  each  a  rod 
of  honourable  retirement  from  the  arena;  to  each  he  sent 
palms.  Valor  and  skill  bore  off  this  reward.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened, what  never  happened  except  in  your  reign,  0  Csesar, 
that  where  two  fought  each  was  conqueror!  {Victor  uter- 
que  fuit.)—Spect.  xxix. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies  of  Wiltshire,  apparently  applies  the  above 
epigram  to  illustrate  his  description  of  Landsdown  Fight  between 
the  forces  of  Charles  I.  and  those  of  the  Parliament. 

"  This  battle  was  fought  on  the  confines  of  this  county  (Wilt- 
shire) and  Somersetshire,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1643.  It  was  dis- 
puted by  parcels  and  piecemeals,  as  the  place  and  narrow  passages 
would  give  leave;  and  it  seemed  not  so  much  one  entire  battle,  as 
a  heap  of  skirmishes  huddled  together.  It  may  be  said,  in  some 
sort,  of  both  sides, 

Victus  uterque  fuit,  victor  uterque  fuit." 

(Each  was  conquered,  each  was  conqueror.) 

A  curious  application  of  the  above  epigram  was  made  by  Dr 
Alabaster,  in  relation  to  two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Raynolds. 
William  Paynolds  was  a  Protestant  residing  in  England,  and  his 
brother  was  trained  up  in  Popery  beyond  seas.  William  took  a 
voyage   in  the  hopes  of  converting  his  brother   to   the    Church  of 


8  .  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

England ;  a  long  conference  between  them  ensued,  wherein  the  bro- 
thers were  so  much  convinced  by  the  force  of  each  other's  arguments, 
that  John  returned  to  England  a  staunch  Protestant,  whilst  William 
abided  abroad,  where  he  proved  a  virulent  Papist. 

Bella  inter  geminos  plusquam  civilia  fratres, 

Traxerat  ambiguus  religionis  apex. 
Ille  Reformats  fidei  pro  partibus  instat, 

Iste  Reformandam  denegat  esse  fidem. 
Propositis  causae  rationibus,  alter  utrinque, 

Coneurrere  pares,  et  cecidere  pares. 
Quod  fuit  in  votis,  fratrem  capit  alter  uterque; 

Quod  fuit  in  fatis,  perdit  uterque  fidem. 
Captivi  gemini  sine  captivante  fuerunt, 

Et  victor  victi  transfuga  castra  petit. 
Quid  genus  hoc  pugnse  est,  ubi  victus  gaudet  uterque; 

Et  tamen  alteruter  se  superasse  dolet? — 

Which  has  been  translated  by  Dr  Peter 'Heylin : — 

In  points  of  faith  some  undetermin'd  jars 
Betwixt  two  brothers  kindled  civil  wars. 
One  for  the  church's  reformation  stood, 
The  other  thought  no  reformation  good. 
The  points  propos'd,  they  traversed  the  field 
With  equal  skill,  and  both  together  yield. 
As  they  desired,  each  brother  each  subdues; 
Yet  such  their  fate  that  each  his  faith  did  lose. 
Both  captives,  none  the  prisoners  thence  do  guide; 
The  victor  flying  to  the  vanquish' d  side. 
Both  join'd  in  being  conquer'd  (strange  to  say), 
And  yet  both  mourn' d  because  both  won  the  day. 

Jeremy  Taylor  has  given  a  relation  of  this  memorable  disputation 
between  the  two  Baynolds  brothers ;  he  writes  that  "  they  disputed 
with  a  purpose  to  confute  and  convert  each  other,  and  so  they  did; 
for  those  arguments  that  they  used  prevailed  fully  against  each 
adversary,  and  yet  did  not  prevail  with  themselves.  The  Papist 
turned  Protestant,  and  the  Protestant  became  a  Papist,  and  so 
remained  till  their  dying  days — of  which  some  ingenious  person 
gave  a  most  handsome  account  in  an  excellent  epigram,  which  for 


I.]  PUBLIC   SHOWS.  9 

the  versification  of  the  story,  I  have  set  down  in  the  margent." 
Taylor  does  not  give  the  name  of  Dr  Alabaster  nor  the  English 
version,  which  will  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Retrospective 
Review. 

Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  De  Sj)ectaculis,  remarks  on  the  incon- 
sistency of  the  Roman  People  in  exposing  criminals  to  wild  beasts, 
but  rewarding  a  gladiator,  whose  daily  vocation  had  been  that  of 
homicide,  with  a  rudis  (rod  of  honourable  retirement). 


V. 

LAUREOLUS. 


Like  as  Prometheus  was  chained  to  a,  rock,  whilst  a 
vulture  with  unassuaged  voracity  was  devouring  his  vitals, 
so  Laureolus,  in  the  amphitheatre,  was  stretched  on  a  real 
cross,  presenting  his  heart  to  be  torn  by  a  Caledonian  bear. 
He  had  probably  been  a  parricide,  or  had  killed  a  master, 
or  had  despoiled  a  temple  of  its  secret  gold,  or  had  raised 
the  torch  of  an  incendiary  to  fire  Rome.  His  guilt  must 
have  surpassed  in  enormity  anything  recorded  in  the  annals 
of  crime;  since  what  was  designed  for  a  drama  was  con- 
verted into  a  most  dreadful  punishment. — Spect.  vn. 

Laureolus  was  a  robber  whose  adventures  were  dramatised ;  they 
ended  in  the  hero  of  the  piece  being  crucified.  The  epigram  illus- 
trates a  passage  of  Juvenal,  in  which  that  poet  represents  a  patrician 
youth  acting  the  part  of  Laureolus,  and  observes  that  he  would  have 
been  deservedly  nailed  to  a  real  cross  :  the  hint  was  not  lost  on 
the  caterers  of  Roman  entertainments. 

Barrington,  in  his  Observations  on  the  Ancient  Statutes,  whose 
agreeable  and  instructive  work  abounds  with  pleasant,  though  not 
always  pertinent  illustrations,  makes  use  of  the  concluding  lines  of 
the  above  epigram,  in  adducing  them  to  show  that  although,  by  the 
Lex  Portia,  all  capital  sentences  might  have  been  remitted  for  that 


10  MARTIAL    AND   THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

of  banishment,  yet  that  capital  punishments  were  inflicted  for  some 
crimes  in  the  time  of  Martial.  Barrington  is  commenting  on  the 
circumstance  that  the  crime  of  murder  received  the  indulgence  of 
clergy  for  many  centuries  prior  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  It 
may  be  observed  that  the  Lex  Porcia  applied  only  to  Roman 
citizens ;  and  it  does  not  appear  that  Martial's  Laureolus  was  either 
born  free,  or  obtained  his  freedom  at  a  great  price.  Gibbon,  more- 
over, notices  that  "  the  freedom  of  the  City  evaporated  in  the  extent 
of  Empire,  and  the  Spanish  malefactor  who  claimed  the  privileges 
of  a  Roman  was  elevated,  by  the  command  of  Galba,  on  a  fairer  and 
more  lofty  cross." 

The  learned  editor  of  the  Cambridge  Tertullian  refers  to  this 
epigram  of  Martial  as  confirmatory  of  general  representations  in  his 
author  of  the  cruel  exhibitions  of  the  Roman  amphitheatre. 


VI. 

ORPHEUS. 


What  Rhodope  is  said  to  have  witnessed  in  Orpheus' 
natural  theatre,  your  arena,  Csesar,  exhibited  to  you.  The 
rocks  creeped,  and  the  wondering  wood  ran,  a  wood  re- 
sembling the  grove  of  the  Hesperides.  There  was  present 
a  promiscuous  assemblage  of  all  species  of  wild  beasts,  and 
many  kinds  of  birds  hovered  over  the  poet.  But  he  lay 
torn  to  pieces  by  a  bear  ungrateful  for  his  music.  Thus, 
what  before  was,  probably,  a  fiction,  we  saw  realised. — SpecL 

XXI. 

Eustace,  in  his  Classical  Tour,  observes  "I  might  amaze  the 
reader  with  an  account  of  the  wonders  frequently  exhibited  in 
the  Roman  Amphitheatre.  Titus  himself  who  erected  it,  was  not 
content  with  the  usual  exhibition  of  wild  beasts,  but  produced  the 
scenery  of  the  countries  whence  they  were  imported,  and  astonished 
the  Romans  with  an  immense  display  of  rocks  and  forests."     Eustace 


I.]  PUBLIC  SHOWS.  11 

then  quotes  the  first  four  verses   of  the  above  epigram,  with  the 

following  version : 

The  wonders  Orpheus  wrought  on  Thracian  ground, 
Great  Caesar,  in  thy  theatre  are  found; 
To  music's  sound  tall  rocks  and  mountains  move, 
And  trees  start  up  and  match  th'  Hesperian  grove. 
The  bestial  tribes  through  distant  woods  that  roam, 
Here  meet  in  crowds,  and  wond'ring  find  a  home. 


VII. 

HEKO  AND  LEANDER. 

Leander  !  do  not  wonder  at  the  waves  of  last  night  in 
the  Naumachia  sparing  yon :  the  waves  were  Caesar's.  When 
the  bold  Leander  was  in  qnest  of  the  sweet  object  of  his 
love,  and  felt  oppressed  by  the  swelling  snrges,  he  is  said 
to  have  thus  addressed  the  waters  that  threatened  to  over- 
whelm him:  "Spare  me  whilst  I  hasten,  drown  me  when  I 
return." — Spect.  xxv. 

Martial  relates  a  variety  of  spectacles  exhibited  upon  water  in- 
troduced into  the  amphitheatre,  including  sea-fights,  in  which  there 
was  often  a  great  destruction  of  human  life.  On  the  subject  of  the 
speech  put  into  Leander's  mouth  by  Martial,  after  the  Greek,  Vol- 
taire, in  his  Questions  sur  IS  Encyclopedic,  Art.  Epigramme,  among 
translations  into  French  of  epigrams  by  an  unknown  author,  exe- 
cuted, in  his  opinioD,  with  a  brevity  of  which  the  French  language 
had  often  been  thought  incapable,  cites  a  French  version  : — 

Leandre  conduit  par  l'amour, 
En  nageant,  disoit  aux  orages, 
Laissez  moi  gagner  les  rivages, 
Ne  me  noyez  qu'  a  mon  retour. 

Burton,  in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  quotes  Leander's  speech 
from  Martial  a  a  strong  symptom  of  love-melancholy.     It  is,  also, 


12  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

quoted   by  Rabelais,  whose  translator,  Mr  Ozell,  in   his   edition  of 
1737,  thus  renders  it: 

Now,  whilst  I  go,  have  pity  on  me, 
And  at  my  back-returning  drown  me. 

Gibbon  observes  that  the  improbable  tale  of  Hero  and  Leander 
is  exposed  by  M.  Mahudel,  but  is  defended  on  the  authority  of  poets 
and  medals  by  M.  De-la-Nauze.  See  the  Academie  des  Inscriptions, 
Tom.  vu.  In  Martial's  distichs  to  accompany  Saturnalian  presents 
{Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  181),  there  is  one  containing  the  speech  to  the  waves; 
it  was  intended  to  accompany  the  present  of  a  marble  Leander. 


VIII. 

MUCIUS  SC^YOLA. 


If  you  deem  that  Mucius,  who  recently  thrust  his  hand 
into  the  fire  at  a  morning  exhibition  of  the  arena,  to  be 
a  paragon  of  endurance  and  fortitude,  you  have  no  more 
sense  than  the  inhabitants  of  Abdera.  For  when  a  man  is 
commanded  to  burn  his  hand,  and  the  tormenting  pitchy 
tunic  is  presented  to  him  as  the  alternative,  it  is  a  greater 
exploit  than  burning  his  hand,  to  say,  "  I  will  not  burn  it" 
(and  so  will  have  my  whole  body  burnt  instead  of  my  hand). 

Or  (according  to  another  interpretation) — 

It  is  a  greater  exploit  than  that  of  the  mimic  ScBevola, 
who  burnt  his  hand  in  the  amphitheatre,  when  the  alterna- 
tive is  offered  of  the  pitchy  shirt,  or  taking  frankincense  in 
the  hand  (an  alternative  offered  to  Christians),  to  say,  "I 
do  not  sacrifice"  (I  reject  the  frankincense,  and  prefer  being 
burnt  in  the  pitchy  shirt).— Lib.  x.  Ep.  xxv. 

Paley,  in  his  Evidences  of  Christianity,  observes,  "  Martial  wrote  a 
few  years  before  the  younger  Pliny,  and,  as  his  manner  was,  made 
the  sufferings  of  the  Christians  the  subject  of  his  ridicule.     Nothing, 


I.]  PUBLIC   SHOWS.  13 

however,  could  show  the  notoriety  of  the  fact  with  more  certainty 
than  this  epigram  of  Martial  does.  Martial's  testimony,  as  well 
indeed  as  Pliny's,  goes  also  to  another  point,  viz.  that  the  deaths  of 
these  men  were  martyrdoms  in  the  strictest  sense:  that  is  to  say, 
were  so  voluntary,  that  it  was  in  their  power,  at  the  time  of  pro- 
nouncing the  sentence,  to  have  averted  the  execution  of  it  by  con- 
senting to  join  in  heathen  sacrifices." 

Paley  does  not  seem  justified  in  his  observation  that  Martial 
"made  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians  the  subject  of  his  ridicule." 
The  testimony  concerning  those  sufferings  attributed  by  Paley  to 
Martial  is  founded  on  the  two  last  lines  of  the  epigram  : — 

Nam  cum  dicatur  tunica  pnesente  molesta 
Tire  manum,  plus  est  dicere,  Nonfacio. 

As  a  note  upon  the  words  ure  manum  (burn  your  hand),  PalejT 
writes  "  forsan  Thure  manum,"  (Fill  your  hand  with  frankincense, 
the  word  fill  being  understood). 

Dr  Malkin,  in  his  Classical  Disquisitions,  observes  that  the  point 
of  the  above  epigram  of  Martial  is  not  obvious ;  he  writes  concerning 
it,  "  It  is  to  be  understood  that  Martial  was  no  friend  to  violence,  and, 
least  of  all,  to  self-violence.  He  was  not  ambitious  to  think  with  the 
sages  of  Abdera,  a  city  of  Thrace,  whose  very  air  was  thought  to  teem 
with  stupidity  or  madness.  He,  therefore,  pronounces  it  less  bold 
spontaneously  to  burn  a  limb,  than  to  refuse  to  do  so,  in  a  case  where 
the  torturing  tunic,  lined  with  various  combustibles,  must  be  expected 
as  the  immediate  consequence.  The  last  word  of  the  epigram,  which 
in  the  elliptic  idiom  of  the  Latin  language  is  sometimes  used  in  the 
sense  of  sacrificing,  has  given  rise  to  the  conjecture  that  Martial 
alludes  to  some  Christian  criminal,  admired  even  by  enemies,  and 
placed  on  a  higher  pinnacle  of  self-devotion  than  Mucius,  for  refusing 
facere,  to  offer  incense  to  the  heathen  Deities.  At  all  events  the 
drift  is  philosophical,  in  raising  passive  above  active  courage." 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  Martial  meant  more  than  that  the 
people,  in  their  admiration  for  the  mock  Mucius,  overlooked  the 
circumstance,  that,  if  he  had  not  consented  to  burn  his  hand,  he 
would,  probably,  have  had  his  whole  body  burnt  in  a  pitchy  tunic. 

In  the  177th  Number  of  the  Tatler,  the  writer,  in  treating  of 
the  false  glory  of  Dedications,  observes,  "The  Koman,  who  was 
surprized   in   the   enemy's   camp   before    he   had    accomplished   his 


14         MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

design,  and  thrust  his  bare  arm  into  a  flaming  pile,  telling  the  king 
that  there  were  many  as  determined  as  himself,  who,  against  sense  of 
danger,  had  conspired  his  death,  wrought  in  the  very  enemy  an 
admiration  of  his  fortitude,  and  a  dismission  with  applause.  But 
the  condemned  slave  who  represented  him  in  the  theatre,  and 
consumed  his  arm  in  the  same  manner,  with  the  same  resolution, 
did  not  raise  in  the  spectators  a  great  idea  of  his  virtue,  but  of 
him  whom  he  imitated  in  an  action  no  way  differing  from  that 
}f  the  real  Scaevola,  but  in  the  motive."  It  may  be  thought  that 
it  appears  from  some  epigrams  of  Martial  that  the  Tatler  may 
aave  paid  too  high  a  compliment  to  the  discrimination  of  a 
Ionian  audience.  In  another  epigram  on  the  dramatic  Mucius  we 
fnd, 

Scire  piget  post  tale  decus  quid  fecerit  ante, 
Quam  vidi,  satis  est  hanc  mihi  nosse  manum. 

"  After  such  an  exploit,  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  know  his  former 
life :  it  is  enough  for  me  to  have  known  that  hand  of  his." 


IX. 

SCORPTJS,  THE  CHAKIOTEER. 

Let  mournful  Victory  break  to  pieces  her  Idumean  palms, 
0  Favor!  beat  your  naked  breasts  with  unsparing  hands; 
let  Honor  change  her  garb;  and,  0  sad  Glory,  cast  your 
crowned  locks  as  an  offering  to  the  flames.  0  for  our  ca- 
lamity, Scorpus,  that  you  should  fall  in  the  prime  of  youth, 
and  so  prematurely  yoke  the  black  horses  of  Pluto!  Why, 
though  you  made  the  goal  of  the  Circus  appear  so  short 
by  your  rapid  driving,  should  you  thus  have  abbreviated  the 
course  of  your  life? — Lib.  x.  Ep.  l. 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogues  on  Medals,  mentions  the  reverses  of 
coins  of  Vespasian,  in  which  Judaea  is  represented  as  a  woman  in 
sorrow  sitting  on  the  ground  under  a  palm-tree,  in  honour  of  the 
conquest  of  Jerusalem;  the  inscriptions  on  these  Coins  are  Judcea 
capta,  and  Victoria  Augusti.     He  observes,  "Martial  seems  to  have 


I.]  PUBLIC   SHOWS.  15 

hinted  at  the  many  pieces  of  painting, and  sculpture  that  were  occa- 
sioned by  this  conquest  of  Judaea,  and  which  had  generally  something 
of  the  palm-tree  in  them.  It  begins  an  epigram  on  the  death  of 
Scorpus  the  charioteer,  which,  in  those  degenerate  times,  was  looked 
upon  as  a  public  calamity. 

Tristis  Idumeas  frangat  Victoria  palmas. 
Plange,  Favor,  sseva  pectora  nuda  manu  1" 


EPITAPH  ON  SCOKPUS. 

• 

I  am  that  Scorpus,  once  the  glory  of  the  clamourous 
Circus,  the  object,  0  Rome,  of  your  plaudits  and  source  of 
your  shortlived  delights;  whom  envious  Lachesis,  when  she 
snatched  me  away  in  my  ninth  trieterid  (twenty-seventh 
year),  mistook -for  an  old  man,  because  she  took  into  ac- 
count only  the  number  of  my  palms. — Lib.  x.  Up.  liii. 

The  mistake  of  Lachesis  may  not  improbably  have  suggested  a 
blunder  of  the  Parcce  commemorated  by  Ben  Jonson  in  regard  to  one 
of  Shakspere's  little  Eyases  or  children  of  the  chapel,  who  acted 
plays. 

Years  he  numbered  scarce  thirteen 

When  fates  turn'd  cruel. 
Yet  three  fill'd  Zodiacs  had  been 

The  stage's  jewel. 
And  did  act  (what  now  we  mourn) 

Old  men  so  duly, 
As,  sooth,  the  Parcse  thought  him  one, 
He  play'd  so  truly. 

The  idea  of  a  person's  life  time  being  measured  otherwise  than  by 
the  number  of  his  years  has  been  adopted,  if  not  borrowed,  by  many 
writers,  as  Bacon,  Suckling,  Young,  Drummond ;  a  lively  illustration 
of  it  is  made  the  point  of  a  French  epigram  on  a  lady  who  was 
rarely  seen  except  at  midnight  operas  and  balls. 


16  MARTIAL    AND   THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Quelle  age  a  cette  Phyllis,  dont  on  fait  tant  de  bruit? 

Me  demandoit  Cliton  nagueres. 

II  faut,  dis-je,  vous  satisfaire; 
Elle  a  vingt  ans  le  jour,  et  cinquante  ans  la  nuit. 

Martial's  conceit  is  pushed  to  an  extravagant  length  by  Habing- 
don,  in  an  epitaph  on  a  son  of  the  Earl  of  Ayr. 

'Tis  false  arithmetic  to  say  thy  breath 
Expir'd  too  soon,  or  irreligious  death 
Profan'd  thy  holy  youth:  for  if  thy  years 
Be  number' d  by  thy  virtues,  or  our  tears, 
Thou  didst  the  old  Methusalem  outlive. 


XL 

PARIS   THE  ACTOR 


Traveller  !  whosoe'er  thou  art  that  treadest  the  Flami- 
nian  way,  pass  not  unheeded  this  noble  tomb  of  marble. 
The  delight  of  this  city,  the  wit  of  the  Nile,  art,  grace, 
sportiveness  and  joy,  the  glory  and  the  regret  of  the  Roman 
theatre,  and  all  the  Venuses  and  Cupids  are  buried  in  this 
tomb  where  Paris  lies. — Lib,  xi.  Ep.  xiv. 

The  above  epitaph  appears  to  have  been  imitated  in  one  upon 
Yoiture. 

Etruscse  Veneres,  Camsense  Iberse, 
Hermes  Gallicus,  et  Latina  Syren, 
Risus,  delicise,  dicacitates, 
Lusus,  ingenium,  joci,  lepores, 
Et  quicquid  fuit  elegantiarum 
Quo  Yoiturius  hoc  jacent  sepulchro. 

The  Yenuses  of  Tuscany,  the  Muses  of  Spain,  the  Mercury  of 
France,  and  the  Syren  of  Italy,  smiles,  delights,  drollery,  repartee, 
with  every  variety  of  elegance,  lie  buried  in  this  tomb  with  Yoiture. 


I.]  PUBLIC    SHOWS.  17 

Pope  would  seem  to  have  alluded  to  this  epitaph  on  Voiture  in 
a  letter  to  Miss  Blunt  accompanying  a  present  of  Yoiture's  works : 

The  Smiles  and  Loves  had  died  in  Yoiture's  death, 
But  that  for  ever  in  his  lines  they  breathe. 

La  Fontaine's  epitaph  on  Moliere  may,  perhaps,  appear  traceable 
to  Martial's  epigram : 

Sous  ce  tombeau  gissent  Plaute  et  Terence, 
Et  cependant  le  seul  Moliere  y  git. 
Leurs  trois  talens  ne  fournoient,  qu'un  esprit, 
Dont  le  bel  art  rejouissoit  la  France. 
lis  sont  partis,  et  j'ai  peu  d'esperance 
De  les  revoir,  malgre  tous  nos  efforts. 
Pour  un  long  temps,  selon  toute  apparence, 
Terence,  et  Plaute,  et  Moliere  sont  mors. 

A  similar  idea  is  made  the  point  of  an  epitaph  composed  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  on  the  famous  Simon  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
in  Leonine  verse : 

Nunc  dantur  fato,  casuque  cadunt  iterato 
Cimone  sublato,  Mars,  Paris,  atque  Cato. 
"Now  that  Simon  is  cut  off,  Mars,  Paris,  and  Cato  are  given 
over  to  fate,  and  die  a  second  death."     Indicating,  as  it  is  said  by 
the  chronicler,  that   Simon  was  "the  peerless  man  of  his  time  for 
valour,  personage  and  wisdom." 

The  following  epitaph  of  Marullus  on  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  may 
appear  to  have  had  its  origin  in  Martial's  epigram : 

Spurcities,  gula,  avaritia,  atque  ignavia  deses, 
Hoc,  Octave,  jacent  quo  tegeris  tumulo. 
"  Filth,  Gluttony,  Avarice,  Indolence,  all  lie,  O  Innocent  VIIL, 
under  the  same  tomb  that  covers  you." 

In  Hearne's  curious  Discourses  is  an  epitaph,  of  the  time  of 
Richard  the  Second,  on  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  which 
apparently  indicates  an  acquaintance  with  the  above  epigram  of 
Martial : 

Hie  pudor  Hippolyti,  Paridis  gena,  sensus  Ulyssis, 
^Eneee  pietas,  Hectoris  ira  jacet. 
"Here  lie  the  modesty  of  Hippolytus,  the  beauty  of  Paris,  the 
wisdom  of  Ulysses,  the  piety  of  iEneas,  the  wrath  of  Hector." 
mart.  c 


CHAPTER  II. 
LITERATURE. 


Martial's  literary  epigrams  relate  to  questions  of  judg- 
ment and  taste,  to  authors,  critics,  patrons,  reciters,  readers, 
plagiaries,  Roman  books,  and  distinguished  literary  cha- 
racters. It  is  conceived,  that  it  will  be  allowed,  upon  an 
inspection  of  the  contents  of  the  present  chapter,  that 
Martial's  epigrams  contain  much  that  has  served  to  suggest 
the  reflections  and  fortify  the  remarks  on  the  Belles  Lettres 
and  on  miscellaneous  subjects  expressed  by  very  eminent 
authors  in  modern  times;  and  that  they  open  a  valuable 
mine  of  information  to  the  literary  antiquarian. 


XII. 
FRIENDSHIP  IN  LITERARY  FAME 

O  Clrinus!  you  can,  if  you  please,  publish  epigrams 
that  might  be  read  with  mine,  or  in  preference  to  mine; 
yet  so  great  is  your  regard  for  an  old  friend,  that  my 
fame  is  dearer  to  you  than  your  own.  In  like  manner 
Virgil  abstained  from  composing  in  the  metres  of  Horace, 
though  he  could  have  surpassed  him  in  the  style  of  Pin- 
dar; and  he  yielded  to  Varius  the  fame  of  the  Roman 
cothurnus,  though  he  could  have  declaimed  in  a  more 
powerful  tragic  vein.    It  is  not  uncommon  for  one  friend 


CH.  II.]  LITERATURE.  19 

to  bestow  on  another  gold  and  land,  but  to  make  con- 
cessions of  literary  pre-eminence  is  a  rare  proof  of  friend- 
ship.— Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xviii. 

Watts  has  parodied  the  above  Epigram  in  one  addressed  by  him 
to  Dr  Hort,  brought  up  in  the  same  dissenting  academy  with  him- 
self, and  who  was,  for  a  time,  a  dissenting  minister,  but  who  subse- 
quently conformed  to  the  established  Church,  and  became  an  Arch- 
bishop j  his  learning  and  talents  are  not  without  a  living  inheritor. 

So  smooth  your  numbers,  friend,  your  verse  so  sweet, 

So  sharp  the  jest,  and  yet  the  turn  so  neat, 

That  with  her  Martial  Rome  would  place  Chine, 

Home  would  prefer  your  sense  and  thought  to  mine. 

Yet  modest  you  decline  the  public  stage, 

To  fix  your  friend  alone  amid  th'  applauding  age. 

So  Maro  did:  the  mighty  Maro  sings 

In  vast  heroic  notes  of  vast  heroic  things: 

And  leaves  the  Ode  to  dance  upon  his  Flaccus'  strings. 

He  scorn'd  to  daunt  the  dear  Horatian  lyre, 

Though  his  brave  genius  flash' d  Pindaric  fire, 

And  at  his  will  could  silence  all  the  lyric  quire. 

So  to  his  Varius  he  resigned  the  praise 

Of  the  proud  buskin  and  the  tragic  lays, 

When  he  could  thunder  in  a  loftier  vein 

And  sing  of  gods  and  heroes  in  a  bolder  strain. 

A  handsome  treat,  a  piece  of  gold,  or  so, 

And  compliments  will  every  friend  bestow ; 

Rarely  a  Yirgil,  a  Cirine  we  meet, 

Who  lays  his  laurels  at  inferior  feet, 

And  yields  the  tenderest  point  of  honor,  wit. 

Dryden,  in  his  Essay  on  Satire,  makes  use  of  the  above  epigram 
in  one  of  the  most  fulsome  and  mendacious  panegyrics  ever  published. 
In  this  he  writes,  that  the  Earl  of  Dorset's  Lyric  Poems  "are  the 
delight  and  wonder  of  this  age  and  will  be  the  envy  of  the  next,  that 
as  Shakespeare  surpassed  the  ancients  in  tragedy,  so  did  the  Earl  of 
Dorset  in  satire."  Of  himself  (the  author  of  Absalom  and  AchitopheT) 
Dryden  writes,  "  I  must  avow  it  freely  to  the  world,  that  I  never 

c2 


20  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

attempted  anything  in  satire,  wherein  I  have  not  studied  your 
writings  as  the  most  perfect  model.  I  have  continually  laid  them 
before  me;  and  the  greatest  commendation  which  my  own  partiality 
can  give  to  my  productions  is,  that  they  are  copies,  and  no  further 
to  be  allowed,  than  as  they  have  something  more  or  less  of  the  ori- 
ginal. Some  few  touches  of  your  Lordship,  some  sweet  graces  which 
I  have  endeavoured  to  express  after  your  manner,  have  made  whole 
poems  of  mine  to  pass  with  approbation.  Your  only  fault  is,  that 
you  have  not  written  more;  unless  I  could  add  another,  and  that 
yet  greater,  but  I  fear  for  the  public  the  accusation  would  not  be 
true, — that  you  have  written,  and  out  of  a  vicious  modesty  will  not 
publish.  Thus  Martial  says  of  Yirgil,  that  he  could  have  excelled 
Varius  in  tragedy,  and  Horace  in  lyric  poetry,  but  out  of  deference 
to  his  friend  he  attempted  neither.  The  same  prevalence  of  genius 
is  in  your  lordship,  but  the  world  cannot  pardon  your  concealing  it 
on  the  same  consideration;  because  we  have  neither  a  living  Yarius, 
nor  a  Horace." 

Jeremy  Taylor  writes,  with  reference  to  the  above  epigram  of 
Martial,  "  I  account  that  one  of  the  greatest  demonstrations  of  real 
friendship  is  that  a  friend  can  sincerely  endeavour  to  have  his  friend 
advanced  in  honour,  in  reputation,  in  the  opinion  of  art  or  learning, 
before  himself."  He  then  quotes  the  four  concluding  lines  of  the 
epigram,  which  he  renders  thus : 

Land,  gold,  and  trifles  many  give  or  lend, 
But  he  that  stoops  in  fame  is  a  rare  friend. 
In  friendship's  orb  thou  art  the  brightest  star: 
Before  thy  fame  mine  thou  preferrest  far. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  21 

XIII. 

SOLID  BOOKS. 

Whoever  thou  art  that  readest  of  (Edipus,  of  Thyestes 
loving  deeds  of  darkness,  of  Medea,  of  the  Scyllas,  what 
do  you  read  else  than  of  monsters?  What  profit  will  you 
derive  from  the  rapes  of  Hylas  by  the  nymphs  of  Atys, 
of  Endymion  by  the  Moon,  or  from  stories  of  Icarus's  falling 
wings,  and  of  Hermaphroditus's  hatred  of  the  enamoured 
waters  ?  Why  do  you  take  any  pleasure  in  the  absurdities 
of  the  wretched  volumes  which  contain  such  fables  ?  Read 
this  booh,  which  you  may  truly  call  your  own.  You  will 
not  meet  here  with  Centaurs,  Gorgons,  or  Harpies ;  my 
page  savours  of  mankind. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  iv. 

A  memorable  use  has  been  made  of  two  lines  of  the  above 
epigram,  as  marked  in  italics,  being  a  twin  motto  with  a  passage 
from  Cicero  of  Sir  Edward  Coke's  famous  First  Institute,  more 
commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Coke- Littleton.     The  lines  are: 

Quid  te  vana  juvant  miserse  ludibria  chartse? 
Hoc  lege,  quod  possis  dicere  jure,  meum  est. 

Use  has  also  been  apparently  made  of  the  above  epigram  in 
Dr  Barrow's  well-known  commendatory  verses  prefixed  to  the  second 
edition  of  the  Paradise  Lost,  dated  1674,  in  Milton's  life-time. 
Martial's  epigram  commences: 

Qui  legis  (Edipodem,  caligantemque  Thyesten, 
Colchidas,  et  Scyllas,  quid  nisi  monstra  legis? 

Dr  Barrow's  verses  begin  : 

Qui  legis  Amissum  Paradisum,  grandia  magni 
Carmina  Miltoni,  quid  nisi  cuncta  legis? 

The  expression,  "  my  page  savours  of  mankind,"  in  the  original 
"hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit,^  has  been  frequently  made  use  of 
in  modern  times.  The  motto  of  the  49th  Number  of  the  Rambler 
is  taken  from  this  passage  of  the  above  epigram: 


22  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [cH. 

Hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit, 
Men  and  their  manners  I  describe. 

The  paper  purports  to  be  written  by  a  frequenter  of  a  Coffee- 
house in  which  he  usually  spent  his  day;  the  manners  he  pourtrays 
presenting  a  curious  contrast  with  those  of  the  present  times.  He 
describes  the  class  of  persons  who  resorted  to  his  Coffee-house  at 
different  periods  of  the  day;  commencing  his  observations  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  A  certain  haberdasher  is  a  political  oracle  there  till 
within  a  quarter  of  eight.  About  this  time  he  is  interrupted  by 
students  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  some  of  whom  are  ready  dressed  for 
Westminster,  with  faces  as  busy  as  if  they  were  retained  in  every 
cause  there ;  whilst  others  come  in  their  night-gowns  to  saunter  away 
their  time,  as  if  they  never  designed  to  go  thence.  Among  the  lawyers, 
a  gentleman  in  a  strawberry  sash  takes  the  lead  over  the  rest ;  he  had 
subscribed  to  every  opera  during  the  last  winter.  To  these  succeed  a 
class  who  come  to  the  Coffee-house  to  transact  affairs,  or  enjoy  conver- 
sation. Eubulus  is  the  great  authority  of  the  place  during  the  middle 
of  the  day.  Having  given  an  account  of  the  several  dynasties  from 
day-break  till  dinner-time,  the  writer  reserves  for  another  occasion 
"  the  monarchs  of  the  afternoon." 

The  same  motto  of  hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit,  is  taken  for  the 
136th  Number  of  the  Connoisseur,  with  a  version: 

To  paint  mankind,  our  sole  pretence; 
And  all  our  wisdom,  common  sense. 

The  writer  says,  "we  consider  all  mankind  as  sitting  for  their 
pictures,  and  endeavour  to  work  up  our  pieces  with  lively  traits,  and 
embellish  them  with  beautiful  colouring."  The  Paper  contains  some 
useful  remarks  on  the  use  and  abuse  of  a  "  knowledge  of  the  world," 
observing  that  the  expression  "as  it  is  generally  used  and  under- 
stood, consists  not  so  much  in  a  due  reflection  on  the  world's  vices 
and  follies,  as  in  the  practice  of  them;  and  that  those  who  consider 
themselves  best  acquainted  with  the  world,  are  either  the  dupes  of 
fashion  or  slaves  of  interest."  "  A  knowledge  of  the  world  is,  also, 
supposed  to  lie  within  the  narrow  compass  of  every  man's  own  sphere 
of  life,  and  receives  a  different  interpretation  in  different  stations." 
The  author's  views  are  illustrated  by  drawing  the  characters  of  two 
men  of  the  world,  Sir  Harry  Flash,  who  can  calculate  odds  as  well 


II.]  LITERATURE.  23 

as  "  Hoyle  or  Demoivre,"  and  his  brother  Richard,  an  alderman,  who 
understands  "  the  rise  and  fall  of  stocks  better  than  any  Jew." 

The  same  passage  is  taken  for  the  motto  of  the  71st  Number  of 
the  Adventurer,  with  a  version: 

We  strive  to  paint  the  manners  and  the  mind. 

The  Paper  consists  of  a  collection  of  letters  from  correspondents 
upon  miscellaneous  subjects,  which  the  writer,  in  his  own  opinion, 
thinks  more  interesting  than  "the  studied  paragraphs  of  Pliny,  or 
the  pompous  declamations  of  Barsac,  as  they  contain  just  pictures  of 
life  and  manners,  and  are  the  genuine  emanations  of  nature."  The 
reader,  after  a  perusal  of  the  Adventurer's  specimens  will,  probably, 
be  of  opinion  that  they  are  inferior  to  Pliny's  paintings,  both  of  the 
manners  and  of  the  mind. 

Burton,  in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  applies  the  distich  of 
Martial  in  which  the  words  Hominem  pagina  nostra  sapit  occur 
to  his  own  book;  and  he  gives  the  following  version  of  it: 

No  Centaurs  here,  nor  Gorgons  look  to  find, 
My  subject  is  of  man,  and  human  kind. 


XIV. 

UNIFORM  BRILLIANCY. 

You  wish  to  give  an  exquisite  turn  to  every  thing  you 
say :  speak  sometimes  merely  well ;  speak  sometimes  neither 
well  nor  ill ;   speak  sometimes  ill. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xlvi. 

The  original  Latin  lines  of  this  epigram  are  quoted  by  Archbishop 
Whately  in  his  Treatise  on  Rhetoric,  by  way  of  giving  point  to  the 
following  remarks,  which  are  an  amplification  of  Martial's  pithy 
advice. 

The  Archbishop  is  cautioning  his  readers  (as  his  marginal  note 
indicates)  against  "uniform  brilliancy."  He  writes,  "An  author 
should  guard  against  the  vain  ambition  of  expressing  every  thing 
in  an  equally  high-wrought,  brilliant  and  forcible  style.     The  neglect 


24  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

of  this  caution  often  occasions  the  imitation  of  the  best  models  to 
prove  detrimental.  When  the  admiration  of  some  fine  and  animated 
passages  leads  a  young  writer  to  take  those  passages  for  his  general 
model,  and  to  endeavour  to  make  every  sentence  he  composes  equally 
fine,  he  will,  on  the  contrary,  give  a  flatness  to  the  whole,  and  de- 
stroy the  effect  of  those  portions  which  would  have  been  forcible 
if  they  had  been  allowed  to  stand  prominent.  To  brighten  the  dark 
parts  of  a  picture,  produces  much  the  same  result  as  if  one  had 
darkened  the  bright  parts;  in  either  case  there  is  a  want  of  relief 
and  contrast;  and  composition,  as  well  as  painting,  has  its  lights  and 
shades,  which  must  be  distributed  with  no  less  skill,  if  we  would 
produce  the  desired  effect." 

In  a  note  to  this  passage,  the  Archbishop  cites  the  distich  which 
constitutes  the  above  epigram,  with  the  omnia  in  Roman  text,  the 
rest  being  in  Italics,  thus: 

Omnia  vult  belle  Matho  dicere;  die  aliquando 
Et  bene;  die  neutrum:  die  aliquando  male. 


XV. 

RELEVANCY. 


My  lawsuit,  which  now  is  being  tried  by  the  Court,  does 
not  relate  to  manslaughter,  or  poison,  or  violence,  but  is 
about  three  little  goats.  I  complain  that  mj  neighbour  has 
stolen  them  from  me :  the  judge  requires  this  to  be  proved. 
You,  Posthumus,  my  advocate,  talk  about  the  battle  of 
Cannse  and  the  Mithridatic  war,  and  Carthaginian  perjuries, 
Sylla,  Marius  and  Mucius,  all  with  a  stunning  voice,  and 
the  whole  gesture  of  your  hand.  After  this,  Posthumus,  it 
is  time  to  say  something  about  my  three  little  goats. — Lib. 
vi.  Ep.  xix. 

This  epigram  is  ingrafted  into  Dr  Parr's  Preface  to  Bellenden 
(in  Latin) ;  wherein  he  reviews  the  political  characters  of  the  states- 


n.]  LITERATURE.  25 

men  of  his  day  (1787),  and  especially  the  attacks  of  Pitt  upon  Lord 
North,  on  account  of  the  American  war,  even  after  its  termination. 
The  following  translation  of  the  passage  in  Dr  Parr's  Preface  was 
published  in  1788: 

"  The  American  war  did  certainly  commence  and  was  afterwards 
conducted  under  the  most  unhappy  auspices.  This  has  constantly 
been,  in  the  hands  of  the  minister,  a  most  tremendous  instrument 
of  torture,  directed  against  the  security  and  fame  of  an  individual. 
But  to  contemplate,  without  ridicule,  incidents  which  have  found 
admission  into  our  '  Senate  requires  no  small  strength  o#  muscle. 
Somewhat  of  the  most  minute  importance  has  been  the  proposed 
subject  of  debate :  the  chosen  band  has  been  assembled  and  the 
young  men  composing  it  have  indulged  in  obstreperous  clamour ;  all  has 
been  noisy  mirth  and  tumultuous  commotion.  After  a  while  a  certain 
person,  in  the  pride  of  office,  makes  his  entrance;  instantly  he  rises 
from  his  place  and  losing  gradual  remembrance  of  the  unimportant 
matter  to  be  discussed,  he  begins  a  terrible  story  of  blood  and 
wounds;  talks  of  Sylla  and  Marius,  of  the  atrociousness  of  Punic 
perfidy,  with  the  loudest  vehemence  of  voice  and  action:  he  calls 
heaven  and  earth  to  witness  that  the  American  war  was  the  sole 
occasion  of  the  matter  in  question,  however  insignificant;  he  pretends 
that  of  the  American  war  Lord  North  was  the  one  and  only  cause." 

The  learned  reader  will  find  in  Dr  Parr's  Latin  preface  a  much 
closer  approximation  to  Martial  and  his  goats  than  in  the  trans- 
lation. Dr  Parr  writes,  "Res  qucedam  agenda  est  de  tribus  capellis; 
and,  afterwards,  the  Certain  One  (Pitt)  trium  capellarum  paululum 
immemor  multa  de  vi  et  csede,  multa  de  Syllis  et  Mariis,  multa  de 
Cannis  et  perjuriis  Punici  furoris  lingua  personat  audacissima  et 
manu  tota.  Deos  Hominesque  testatur  bellum  Americanum  in  causa 
fuisse  cur  Titius  istas  tres  capellas  a  O&iofuratus  sit." 


26  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

XVI. 

PROLIXITY. 

When  you  asked  with  a  loud  voice  for  seven  clepsydrw 
(hour-glasses  of  water),  the  unwilling  judge  assigned  them 
to  you.  You  talk  very  tediously  for  a  long  time,  and  you 
lie  half  on  your  back,  drinking  warm  water  from  glass 
goblets  p  that  you  may  at  length  satisfy  at  once  your  talk- 
ing against  time,  and  your  thirst,  you  had  better  now  drink 
out  of  your  own  clepsydrse. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xxxv. 

Becker,  in  his  Gallus,  in  an  excursus  on  the  Roman  Clocks, 
refers,  for  an  illustration  of  the  uses  of  the  Clepsydrce,  to  the  above 
epigram,  and  to  another  in  the  eighth  book,  in  which  a  man  exposed 
bis  taciturnity  by  asking  fbr  too  many  Clepsydrce.  These  epigrams 
illustrate  several  of  Pliny's  Letters. 

Barrington,  in  his  Observations  on  the  Ancient  Statutes,  in  treating 
of  a  Statute  of  Henry  VIII.  concerning  fines  pro  pulchre  placitando 
(imposed  for  mistakes  of  pleading),  notices  that,  in  some  countries, 
advocates  have  been  subjected  to  penalties  even  for  prolixity,  as  by 
ordinances  of  Charles  VII.  of  France  and  his  successors.  He  ob- 
serves that  "  the  Roman  advocates  used  to  make  a  sort  of  agreement 
with  the  Court,  how  many  hours  they  might  have  liberty  to  speak  in 
defence  of  their  clients,  as  appears  by  the  following  epigram  of 
Martial."     He  then  quotes  at  length  the  above  epigram. 


XVII. 

ROUGHNESS  AND   OBSCURITY. 

You  approve  of  no  verses  which  flow  in  a  smooth 
measure,  but  only  such  as  fall  over  crags  (salebras,  from 
saltuSj  requiring  a  leap)  and  lofty  rocks.  In  your  opinion 
the  epitaph  beginning  "Here  lies  Metrophanes,  the  colu- 


II.]  LITERATURE.  27 

mella  of  Lucilius,"  has  greater  charms  than  the  epic  of 
Homer.  With  astonishment  you  pore  over  whatever  the 
ancient  poets  Accius  and  Pacuvius  vomit  forth,  and  prefer 
to  modern  forms  of  speech,  such  as  terrce  frugiferce  (of 
the  fruit-bearing  earth),  the  obsolete  words  terrdi  frugiferdi. 
— Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xc. 

Watts,  in  the  Preface  to  his  poems,  observes,  "I  could  never 
believe  that  roughness  and  obscurity  added  anything  to  the  true 
grandeur  of  a  poem ;  nor  will  I  ever  affect  archaisms,  exoticisms,  and 
a  quaint  uncouthness  of  speech,  in  order  to  become  perfectly  Mil- 
tonian.  The  oddness  of  an  antique  sound  gives  but  a  false  pleasure 
to  the  ear,  and  abases  the  true  relish,  even  where  it  works  delight. 
There  were  some  such  judges  of  poesy  among  the  old  Romans ;  and 
Martial  ingeniously  laughs  at  one  of  them,  that  was  pleased  even  to 
astonishment  with  obsolete  words  and  figures : 

Attonitusque  legis,  terrdi  frugiferdi. 

So  the  ill-drawn  postures  and  distortions  of  shape  that  we  meet 
with  in  Chinese  pictures  charm  a  sickly  fancy  by  their  very  awk- 
wardness :  so  a  distempered  appetite  will  chew  coals  and  sand,  and 
pronounce  them  gustful."  These  remarks  of  Watts  have  a  close 
resemblance  to  what  Dry  den  writes  in  the  Preface  to  his  second  Mis- 
cellany, "Can  I  not  admire  the  height  of  Milton's  invention,  and 
the  strength  of  his  expression,  without  defending  his  antiquated 
words,  and  the  perpetual  harshness  of  their  sound  ?" 

Ben  Jonson,  in  his  Discoveries,  when  treating  of  Ingeniorum 
discrimina  (the  diversities  of  genius  in  authors)  notices  those  writers 
who  have  the  fault  reprehended  in  the  above  epigram,  to  which  he 
makes  express  reference.  He  inflicts  his  ridicule  upon  them,  and 
also  upon  those  who  run  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  whom  he 
calls  Women's  Poets.  And  in  a  later  part  of  his  Discoveries  he  writes, 
"  You  admire  no  poems  but  such  as  run,  like  a  brewer's  cart  upon  the 
stones,  hobbling : 

Et  quae  per  salebras,  altaque  saxa  cadunt, 
Accius  et  quidquid  Pacuviusque  vomunt. 
Attonitusque  legis  terrai,  frugiferai." 


28  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

XVIII. 

POETIC   LICENCE. 

Name  !  born  among  violets  and  roses,  by  which  the  best 
part  of  the  year  is  designated;  which  savours  of  Hybla 
and  of  Attic  flowers;  whose  perfume  is  like  that  of  the 
Phoenix's  nest.  Name!  sweeter  than  blessed  nectar,  and 
by  which  Atys  would  rather  have  been  called  than  by 
his  own ;  whose  owner  tempereth  with  water  the  cups  of 
the  thunderer  (Domitian),  whilst  to  his  voice,  when  heard 
in  the  Parrhasian  palace,  the  Venuses  and  the  Graces  re- 
spond. I  would  wish  not  to  express  in  an  unskilful  verse 
a  Name  so  noble,  soft,  and  delicate.  But  thou,  0  contu- 
macious syllable,  art  repugnant  to  my  endeavours!  There 
are  poets,  indeed,  who  use  the  word  Earinon,  but  they  are 
Greek  poets,  to  whom  every  licence  is  allowable.  It  may 
be  proper  enough  for  them  to  make  the  same  syllable  both 
long  and  short  in  the  same  line;  but  it  is  not  permitted 
for  us  Romans  to  be  eloquent  after  this  fashion,  we  pay 
our  homage  to  severer  muses. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xn. 

The  above  epigram,  and  others  of  Martial  upon  Domitian's  cup- 
bearer, are  degrading  examples  of  incense  kindled  at  the  Muse's 
flame :  there  is,  however,  a  terseness  in  the  last  two  lines  which  is 
adapted  to  quotation;  as  in  a  note  to  the  Pursuits  of  Literature,  with 
reference  to  Warton's  edition  of  Pope's  Works,  containing  Pope's 
imitation  of  the  Second  Satire  of  the  first  book  of  Horace,  which 
Pope  had  not  printed  in  his  works  himself,  the  author  writes, 
"  I,  though  an  anonymous  layman,  refuse  to  print  the  passage  in  full 
which  the  Reverend  Doctor  Warton  has  printed  and  sanctioned  with 
his  name  as  editor  of  Pope's  Works, 

Nobis  non  licet  esse  tarn  disertis 
Qui  Musas  colimus  severiores." 

Martial's  Musas  severiores  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  to  have  been 
present  to  the  mind  of  the  learned  Selden,  on  the  occasion  on  which 


II.]  LITERATURE.  29 

he  strangely  appeared  as  a  Poet,  in  commendatory  verses  to  Brown's 

Pastorals. 

So  much  a  stranger  my  severer  muse 
Is  not  to  love-strains,  or  a  shepherd's  reed, 
But  that  she  knows  some  rites  of  Phoebus'  dues, 
Of  Pan,  of  Pallas,  and  her  sister's  meed. 


XIX. 

DIFFICULT  TRIFLES. 

I  am  not  so  bad  a  poet  as  to  take  glory  to  myself  for 
the  composition  of  back-reading  {supino)  verses,  like  those 
invented  by  Sotades,  nor  of  verses  containing  a  Greek  echo, 
nor  of  those  making  the  beautiful  Atys  discourse  in  effemi- 
nate Galliambics.  What,  if  you  were  to  bid  Ladas,  the  swift 
runner,  against  his  will  to  race  up  and  down  the  narrow 
uplifted  plank  of  the  Petaurum?  (a  theatrical  machine  for 
raising  performers  human  or  bestial  in  the  air.)  It  is 
disgraceful  to  be  engaged  in  difficult  trifles;  and  the  labour 
spent  on  frivolities  is  foolish.  Let  Palsemon  write  verses  for 
the  million  (circulis) ;  it  is  my  wish  to  please  select  ears. — 
Lib.  ii.  Ep.  lxxxvi. 

The  commentators  on  Martial  give  examples  of  supine  verses,  and 
echoes,  and  explain  the  action  of  the  petaurum:  It  must  be  observed 
in  defence  of  Galliambic  verses,  that  the  only  relic  we  have  of  them 
is  in  the  Atys  of  Catullus,  of  which  Dryden  writes,  that  "  no  modern 
poet  can  put  into  his  own  language  the  energy  of  the  Atys  of  Ca- 
tullus." Voltaire  observes  that  the  ancients  did  not  employ  the 
rondeau. 

The  famous  Selden,  in  a  second  poetic  flight,  borrows  a   com- 
pliment on  Ben  Jonson  from  the  above  epigram,  viz. : 
Carmina  circulis  Palsemon 
Scribat         *         *  Placere 

Te  doctis  juvat  auribus,  placere 
Te  raris  juvat  auribus. 


30  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Rollin,  in  his  Belles  Lettres,  observes  that  it  is  to  be  little  ac- 
quainted with  the  value  of  time  to  employ  it  in  the  study  of  such 
difficulties  and  obscurities  as  are  at  the  same  time  unnecessary,  and 
often  trifling  and  vain.  A  judicious  master,  he  writes,  will  carefully 
avoid  falling  into  this  mistake,  for  it  is  a  pitiful  vanity  to  be  over 
curious  in  knowing  all  that  the  worst  authors  have  said  upon  a 
subject.     He  quotes  two  lines  of  Martial's  epigram : 

Turpe  est  difficiles  habere  nugas, 
Et  stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum. 

Which  the  translator  of  Rollin  renders: 

The  deep  and  dull  researches  of  the  schools, 
Are  but  the  busy  indolence  of  fools. 

The  motto  of  the  470th  number  of  the  Spectator,  by  Addison,  is 
taken  from  the  above  epigram : 

Turpe  est  difficiles  habere  nugas, 
Et  stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum. 

This  Paper  contains  a  censure  on  the  various  readings  of  classic 
authors,  which,  as  Addison  complains,  sometimes  take  up  half  the 
volume  of  a  work.  Addison  quotes  an  old  song  consisting  of  four 
stanzas,  and  amuses  his  readers  with  burlesque  various  readings, 
which  he  imagines  to  be  suggested  in  it  by  the  critics. 

The  motto  of  the  177th  number  of  the  Rambler  is: 

Turpe  est  difficiles  habere  nugas. 

This  Paper  contains  the  description  of  a  club  of  virtuosos.  One, 
Hirsutus  by  name,  is  occupied  in  amassing  all  English  books  published 
in  black  letter;  this  search  he  had  pursued  so  diligently  that  he  was 
able  to  show  the  deficiencies  of  the  best  catalogues.  He  had  long  since 
completed  his  Caxton,  had  three  sheets  of  Treveris  unknown  to  the 
antiquaries,  and  wanted  to  a  perfect  Pynson  but  two  volumes,  of 
which  one  was  promised  him  as  a  legacy  by  its  present  possessor,  and 
the  other  he  was  resolved  to  buy  at  whatever  price,  when  Quis- 
quilius's  library  should  be  sold.  "  When  he  was  merry,  he  regaled 
us  with  a  quotation  from  the  Shippe  of  Foles"  Ferratus  had  just 
"  completed  his  set  of  English  copper,  having  received,  in  a  handful  of 
change,  the  only  halfpenny  wanting  to  his  collection,  and  of  which  he 


II.]  LITERATURE.  31 

had  been  long  in  search."  Cartophylax  had  been  for  seven  years  per- 
fecting his  series  of  gazettes,  "  but  had  long  wanted  a  single  paper, 
which,  when  he  despaired  of  obtaining  it,  was  sent  him  wrapped 
round  a  parcel  of  tobacco."  In  the  course  of  his  strictures  in  this 
paper,  Johnson  does  not,  perhaps/ give  due  credit  to  the  labours  of 
Archaeologists;  he  observes,  however,  that  "whatever  busies  the 
mind  without  corrupting  it,  has,  at  least,  this  use,  that  it  rescues 
the  day  from  idleness,  and  he  that  is  never  idle  will  not  often  be 
vicious." 

Ben  Jonson,  in  his  Execration  upon  Vulcan,  composed  on  the 
occasion  of  the  burning  of  his  books  and  literary  papers,  writes  con- 
cerning the  difficiles  nugce  of  Martial : 

Had  I  compiled  from  Amadis  de  Gaul, 

The  Esplandians,  Arthurs,  Palmerins,  and  all 

The  learned  library  of  Don  Quixote, 

And  so  some  goodlier  monster  (Ep.  xm.)  had  begot : 

Or  spun  out  riddles,  or  weav'd  fifty  tomes 

Of  Logographs,  or  curious  Palindromes, 

Or  pumped  for  those  hard  trifles,  Anagrams, 

Or  Eteostics,  or  your  finer  flams 

Of  eggs,  and  halberds,  cradles,  and  a  hearse, 

A  pair  of  scissors,  and  a  comb  in  verse ; 

Thou  then  had'st  had  some  colour  for  thy  flames 

On  such  my  serious  follies. 


XX. 

FIT  THEMES. 


When  you  ask  for  lively  (vivida)  epigrams,  and  propose 
grave  (rnortua)  subjects,  what  result  can  you  anticipate? 
You  ask  for  the  honey  of  Hybla  or  Hymettus  to  be  pro- 
duced, and  you  place  before  an  Attic  bee  nothing  but 
Corsican  thyme. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xlii. 


32  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

The  motto  of  the  101st  number  of  the  Rambler  consists  of  the 
two  concluding  lines  of  the  epigram, 

Mella  jubes  Hyblsea  tibi  vel  Hymettia  nasci, 
Et  thyma  Cecropise  Corsica  ponis  api: 
with  the  following  version  : 

Alas!  dear  sir,  you  try  in  vain 
Impossibilities  to  gain; 
No  bee  from  Corsica's  rank  juice, 
Hyblsean  honey  can  produce. 

The  Paper  contains  an  account  of  a  member  of  society  famous  for 
his  jocularity,  and  universally  sought  after  in  London  circles.  An 
admiring  friend  invites  him  into  the  country  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  him  off  to  neighbouring  squires ;  but  the  scheme  turns  out 
a  failure.  The  man  of  wit,  after  various  unsuccessful  attempts  at 
electrifying  a  country  dinner-party  with  his  brilliancy,  hears  the 
guests,  as  at  night  they  are  walking  homewards  across  his  host's 
court,  "murmuring  at  the  loss  of  the  day,  and  inquiring  whether 
any  man  would  pay  a  second  visit  to  a  house  haunted  by  a  wit." 
Dr  Johnson  concludes  this  account  by  remarking  "  that  invention  is 
not  wholly  at  the  command  of  its  possessor  ;  that  the  power  of 
pleasing  is  very  often  obstructed  by  the  desire;  that  all  expectation 
lessens  surprise,  yet  that  some  surprise  is  necessary  to  gaiety;  and 
that  those  who  desire  to  partake  of  the  pleasure  of  wit  must  con- 
tribute to  its  production,  since  the  mind  stagnates  without  external 
ventilation,  and  that  effervescence  of  the  fancy  which  flashes  into 
transport,  can  be  raised  only  by  the  infusion  of  dissimilar  ideas." 

Becker  gives  his  Gallus  Corsican  honey  at  a  poor  inn,  for  which 
infliction  he  quotes  the  above  epigram. 


XXI. 

VICES,  NOT  PERSONS. 

O,  Gallus  I  more  candid  than  the  ancient  Sabines,  whose 
benevolence  surpasses  that  of  the  Attic  sage  (Socrates),  may 


II.]  LITERATURE.  33 

Venus  so  bless  you  with  her  unquenchable  torch  that  you 
may  constantly  reside  in  the  splendid  mansion  of  your  father- 
in-law,  upon  condition  of  your  defending  me  from  any 
imputations  that  verses  stained  with  green  rust  (viridi  ceru- 
gine)  are  mine,  or  that  such  verses  are  composed  by  any 
poet  who  is  read.  In  my  works  a  rule  has  always  been  ob- 
served to  speak  of  vices,  but  to  spare  persons. — Lib.  x.  Ep. 

XXXIII. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  the  Prologue  to  his  play  of  the  Silent  Woman, 
writes : 

And  still  't  hath  been  the  praise  of  all  best  times, 
So  persons  were  not  touch'd,  to  tax  the  crimes. 

****** 
If  any  yet  will,  with  particular  sleight 
Of  application  wrest  what  he  doth  write, 
And  that  he  meant,  or  him,  or  her,  will  say: 
They  make  a  libel,  which  he  made  a  play. 

And  in  his  dedication  to  the  "two  famous  Universities"  of  his  play  of 
the  Fox,  in  answer  to  an  imputation  upon  his  dramas,  which  he 
says  had  been  made,  that  "  not  his  youngest  infant  but  had  come  into 
the  world  with  all  his  teeth,"  he  asks,  "Where  have  I  been  par- 
ticular 1  Where  personal,  except  to  a  mimic,  cheater,  bawd  or  buf- 
foon 1  Yet  to  which  of  these  so  pointedly  that  he  might  not  wisely 
have  dissembled  his  disease  V 

Duport,  in  his  commendatory  verses  on  Ben  Jonson,  writes  : 

Nee  quern  tua  fabula  mordet 
Dente  Theonino,  sed  pravis  aspera  tantum 
Moribus,  insanum  multo  sale  defricat  sevum. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  be  thought  that,  in  the  play  of  the  Tale  of 
a  Tub,  Inigo  Jones  is  torn  by  Jonson  with  a  Theonine  tooth. 

Dryden,  in  a  preface  to  his  play  of  the  Mock  Astrologer,  after 
confessing  that  he  could  not  "write  humour,"  and  observing  that 
Jonson  was  the  "  only  man  of  all  ages  and  nations  who  has  performed 
it  well,  and  that  but  in  three  or  four  of  his  comedies ;  the  rest  being 
but  the  same  humours  a  little  varied  and  written  worse.  Neither 
was  it  more  allowable  in  him,  than  it  is  in  our  present  poets,  to 

MART.  D 


34  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

represent  the  follies  of  particular  persons;  of  which  many  have 
accused  him.  Parcere  personis,  dicere  de  vitiis  (to  spare  persons,  to 
speak  of  vices),  is  the  rule  of  plays."  Dryden  appears  to  have  dis- 
regarded this  rule  as  far  as  it  may  be  applicable  to  political  plays ; 
and  no  play  ever  contained  a  more  gross  libel  than  that  on  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  in  Venice  Preserved,  the  celebrated  production  of  one  of 
Dryden's  "present  poets." 

According  to  a  song  in  the  Beggar's  Opera,  the  declaimer  on 
abstract  vices-is  not  always  sure  of  not  giving  offence  to  persons. 

When  you  censure  the  age, 

Be  cautious  and  sage, 
Lest  the  courtiers  offended  should  be ; 

If  you  mention  vice  or  bribe, 

'Tis  so  pat  to  all  the  tribe, 
Each  cries — "That  was  levell'd  at  me," 


XXII. 
EXTEMPORARY  POEMS. 

Pardon  what  is  extemporary;  he  does  not  deserve  to 
incur  your  displeasure  who  is  in  haste  to  give  you  pleasure, 
0  Domitian! — Spect.  xxxi. 

In  Ben  Jonson's  Devices  for  the  Pageant  of  King  James  I.  passing 
to  his  coronation,  the  figure  of  the  Genius  of  the  City  of  London 
accosts  the  king.  The  genius  is  represented  as  a  "  personage  richly 
attired,  reverend,  and  antique  :  his  hair  long  and  white,  covered  with 
a  wreathe  of  plane-tree,  which  is  said  to  be  arbor  genialis;  his  mantle 
of  purple,  and  buskins  of  that  colour :  he  held,  in  one  hand,  a  goblet, 
in  the  other  a  branch  full  of  little  twigs,  to  signify  increase  and  in- 
dulgence ;  London  was  supported  by  Bouleutes  and  Polemius,  two 
figures  typifying,  the  former  the  council,  the  latter  the  warlike  force 
of  the  city."     Genius  thus  concludes  her  congratulation  : 

Here  ends  my  city's  office,  here  it  breaks ; 

Yet  with  my  tongue  and  this  pure  heart  she  speaks 


II.]  LITERATURE.  35 

A  short  farewell :  and,  lower  than  thy  feet, 
With  fervent  thanks,  thy  royal  pains  doth  greet. 
Pardon,  if  my  abruptness  breed  disease  : 
"He  merits  not  to  offend,  that  hastes  to  please." 

At  the  entertainment  of  the  kings  of  England  and  Denmark,  at 
Theobald's,  of  which  the  devices  were  prepared  by  Ben  Jonson, 
among  various  inscriptions  on  walls,  the  following  is  taken  from  the 
above  epigram,  substituting  only  the  plural  for  the  singular  number, 
so  as  to  include  a  pair  of  kings  : — 

Date  veniam  subitis. 

Pardon  sudden  (extemporary)  things. 

At  the  end  of  an  " epigram  on  the  Prince's  birth"  Ben  Jonson 

appends  that  part  of  the  above  epigram  which  is  appropriate  to  a 

sudden  incident, 

Non  displicuisse  meretur, 

Festinat,  Caesar,  qui  placuisse  tibi. 


XXIII. 

BOOKS,   PARTLY   GOOD,   PARTLY   BAD,   PARTLY 
INDIFFERENT. 

Some  of  my  epigrams  are  good,  some  moderately  so, 
more  bad ;  there  is  no  other  way,  Avitus,  of  making  a  book. 
— Lib.  i.  Ep.  xvii. 

In  the  proceedings  against  Frend  before  the  Vice- Chancellor  of 
Cambridge  for  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  entitled  Peace  and 
Union,  which  is  reported  in  the  22nd  volume  of  the  State  Trials, 
the  publication  of  the  pamphlet  was  proved  by  a  Dr  Dickens,  to 
whom  Mr  Frend  had  given  a  copy,  which  Dr  Dickens  identified  by 
his  having  written  on  the  fly-leaf, 

Sunt  bona,  sunt  qusedam  mediocria_,  sunt  mala  plura. 
Sir  T.  Parkyns,  in  his  Progymnasmata,  when  apologizing  for  the 
contents  of  his  book,  writes :  "  And  though  Martial  speaks  for  me, 

d2 


36  MARTIAL   AND   THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

'tis  not  a  book,  if  not  so ;  and  though  I  set  not  a  greater  value  on  a 
spider's  web,  for  being  spun  out  of  its  own  bowels ;  however,  if,  upon 
perusal  of  my  treatise  on  wrestling,  my  readers  shall  laugh  at  it  till 
they  lie  down,  I  hope  they  will  be  so  ingenuous  as  to  own  the  fall" 
The  motto  of  the  240th  number  of  the  Spectator  is, 

Aliter  non  fit,  Avite,  liber. 
Of  such  materials,  Sir,  are  books  composed. 

The  Paper  consists  of  various  letters  on  miscellaneous  subjects 
addressed  to  the  Spectator,  among  which  there  are  undoubtedly  mala 
plura. 

The  motto  of  the  581st  number  of  the  Spectator  is : 

Sunt  bona,  sunt  quae  dam  mediocria,  sunt  mala  plura. 
Some  good,  some  bad,  some  neither  one  nor  t'other. 

The  Paper  consists  of  the  Spectators  answers  to  various  letters 
which  he  had  received,  such  as  "  I  think  it  beneath  my  Spectatorial 
dignity  to  concern  myself  in  the  affair  of  the  boiled  dumpling." 
"  Harriet  is  a  good  girl,  but  must  not  curtsey  to  folks  she  does  not 
know."  "  I  shall  consult  some  literati  on  the  project  sent  me  for  the 
discovery  of  the  longitude,"  &c.  It  would  be  difficult  to  predicate  of 
these  answers,  "  sunt  bona." 


XXIV. 

CRITICS  COMPARED  TO  COOKS. 

The  reader  and  the  hearer  approve  of  my  small  books, 
but  a  certain  critic  objects  that  they  are  not  finished  to  a 
nicety.  I  do  not  take  this  censure  much  to  heart,  for  I 
would  wish  that  the  courses  of  my  dinner  should  afford  plea- 
sure to  guests  rather  than  to  cooks. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  lxxxiii. 

Harrington,  Queen  Elizabeth's  godson,  gave  the  following  poetical 
version  of  the  above  epigram : 


II.]  LITERATURE.  37 

The  readers  and  the  hearers  like  my  books, 
And,  yet,  some  writers  cannot  them  digest: 
But  what  care  I?  for  when  I  make  a  feast, 
I  would  my  guests  should  praise  it,  not  the  cooks. 

In  Ben  Jonson's  Preface  to  his  play  of  the  Silent  Woman,  we 
find: 

But  in  this  age  a  sect  of  writers  are, 

That  only  for  particular  likings  care, 

And  will  taste  nothing  that  is  popular. 

With  such  we  mingle  neither  brains  nor  breasts, 

Our  wishes,  like  to  those  make  public  feasts, 

Are  not  to  please  the  cook's  taste,  but  the  guests. 

Lord  Bacon,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Advancement  of  Learning,  thus 
applies  the  concluding  point  of  the  above  epigram,  with  reference  to 
the  variety  of  metres  in  poetry :  "  Wherein  though  men  in  learned 
tongues  do  tie  themselves  to  the  ancient  measures,  yet,  in  modern 
languages,  it  seemeth  to  me  as  free  to  make  new  measures  of  verses 
as  of  dances ;  for  a  dance  is  a  measured  pace,  as  a  verse  is  a  measured 
speech.     In  these  things  the  sense  is  better  judge  than  the  art : 

Ccense  fercula  nostrse 
Mallem  convivis,  quam  placuisse  cocis." 


XXV. 

VATICAN  WINE  FOR  CRITICS. 

If  my  little  book  contains  anything  tender  and  sweet; 
if  my  bland  page  tends  to  the  honour  of  any  one,  you  deem 
me  flat;  and  when  I  place  before  you  the  choice  morsels 
of  a  Laurentian  boar,  you  prefer  gnawing  its  tough  ribs. 
Drink  Vatican  wine  (Vaticana  bibas),  if  you  prefer  what  is 
nearest  to  vinegar;  my  flagon  evidently  does  not  agree  with 
your  stomach  (nonfacit  ad  stomachum). — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xly. 


38  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  some  remarks  prefixed  to  his  Masque  of  Hymen, 
which  contain  a  retort  on  certain  critics  who  had  animadverted  on 
his  practice  of  making  use  of  classical  authors  for  the  embellishment 
of  his  Masques,  thus  writes,  "  However  some  may  squeamishly  cry 
out  that  all  endeavour  of  learning  and  sharpness  in  these  transitory 
devices,  especially  where  it  steps  beyond  their  little,  or  no  brain 
at  all,  is  superfluous,  I  am  contented  that  these  fastidious  stomaclis 
should  leave  my  full  tables,  and  enjoy  at  home  their  clean  empty 
trenchers  fittest  for  such  airy  tastes:  when,  perhaps,  a  few  Italian 
herbs  picked  up  and  made  into  a  salad  may  find  sweeter  acceptance 
than  all  the  most  nourishing  and  sound  meats  in  the  world.  For 
these  men's  opinions,  let  me  not  answer,  O  Muses!  It  is  not  my 
fault,  if  I  fill  them  out  nectar,  and  they  run  to  metheglin. 

Vaticana  bibant,  si  delectantur. 

All  the  courtesy  I  can  do  them,  is  to  cry  again, 

Prsetereant,  si  quid  non  facit  ad  stomachum." 


XXVI. 

MISSPENT  CRITICISM. 


Although  you  have  always  a  scoffing  nose,  and  may  be 
said  to  be  a  nose  yourself,  such  a  nose  as  Atlas  himself 
would  decline  to  bear  on  his  shoulders;  and  though  you 
can  even  deride  the  deriding  Mime  Latinus,  you  cannot  say 
more  against  my  trifles  than  I  have  said  myself.  Why  will 
you  take  pleasure  in  biting  a  tooth  with  a  tooth?  If  you 
seek  to  be  satiated,  you  must  take  flesh.  Do  not  lose  your 
labour ;  reserve  your  venom  for  those  who  are  self-admirers ; 
/  know  that  my  verses  are  nothing  at  all;  and  yet  they  are 
not  altogether  nothing,  if  you  come  to  their  perusal  with  a 
candid  ear,  and  not  with  a  morning  brow. — Lib.  xiii.  Ep.  II, 


II.]  LITERATURE.  39 

The  expression  nos  hcec  novimus  esse  nihil,  has  been  urged  by 
several  modern  writers  by  way  of  a  modest  apology  for  the  trivial 
nature  of  some  of  their  compositions.  Thus,  it  is  taken  for  the  motto 
of  the  158th  number  of  the  Spectator,  with  a  version  "We  know 
these  things  to  be  mere  trifles."  The  paper,  which  is  written  by 
Steele,  consists  of  four  letters  from  correspondents  upon  trifling  sub- 
jects. The  same  motto  is  taken  for  P.  Whitehead's  poem  on  boxing, 
entitled  the  Gymnasiad. 

Burton,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  quotes 
Martial's  epigram,  with  a  version  meant  for  poetical: 

Wert  thou  all  scoffs  and  flouts,  a  very  Momus, 
Than  we  ourselves  thou  canst  not  say  worse  of  us. 

Montaigne,  in -his  Essay  on  Presumption,  observes,  that  he  is  not 
obliged  to  utter  no  absurdities,  provided  he  be  not  deceived  by  them, 
and  knows  them  to  be  such,  quoting  Martial's  epigram,  which  is  thus 
rendered  by  his  translator : 

Be  nosed,  be  all  nose,  till  thy  nose  appear 
So  great  that  Atlas  it  refuse  to  bear; 
Though  even  against  Latinus  thou  inveigh, 
Against  my  trifles  thou  no  more  can'st  say 
Than  I  have  said  myself.     Then  to  what  end 
Should  we  to  render  tooth  for  tooth  contend? 
You  must  have  flesh  if  you'll  be  full,  my  Priend ! 
Lose  not  thy  labour;  but  on  those  who  do 
Admire  themselves  thy  utmost  venom  throw ; 
That  these  things  nothing  are,  full  well  we  know. 


XXVII. 

RHINOCEROS'    NOSES. 

Little  Book!  you  want  to  inhabit  the  shops  of  the 
Argilenta  Quarter  (Paternoster  Row),  now  that  my  writing- 
desk  opens  you  a  way  out.    You  are  ignorant,  alas !  you  are 


40  MARTIAL    AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

ignorant  of  the  fastidiousness  of  dominant  Rome.  Believe 
me,  the  descendants  of  Mars  are  over-sagacious.  There  were 
never  more  snortings  heard:  old  men,  and  young  men,  and 
the  very  boys  have  Rhinoceros'  noses.  AVhen  you  expect  to 
hear  grand  sophoses  (exclamations  of  wisely!),  when  you  are 
endeavouring  to  catch  kisses,  you  will  be  tossed  to  the  stars 
from  a  shaken-out  blanket.  Nevertheless,  in  order  that  you 
may  avoid  frequent  effacings  at  the  hand  of  your  master, 
and  the  marks  of  a  sad  reed  which  obliterates  your  extrava- 
gances, you  wantonly  wish  to  fly  at  liberty  through  the  air. 
Go,  fly,  but  you  might  be  safer  at  home. — Lib.  1.  Ep.  iv. 

The  line  of  the  epigram: 

Ibis  ab  excusso,  missus  ad  astra,  sago. 

(You  will  find  your  way  to  the  stars  on  a  mission  from  a  shaken-out 
blanket),  has  rung  upon  many  an  ear;  for,  by  help  of  laying  stress 
on  the  middle  and  final  o  in  pronunciation,  it  was  the  line  used, 
in  the  author's  time  at  Eton,  during  the  elevating  sport  of  tossing 
in  a  blanket. 

Fielding  adopts  as  the  motto  of  the  3rd  number  of  the  Covent- 
Garden  Journal  : 

Majores  nunquam  ronchi:  juvenesque,  senesque, 
Et  pueri  nasum  rhinocerotis  habent. 

Of  which  he  gives  a  version  characteristic  of  his  peculiar  vein: 
No  town  can  such  a  gang  of  Critics  show, 
Even  boys  turn  up  that  nose  they  cannot  blow. 

The  Paper  contains  a  humorous  detail  of  rules  for  the  admission 
of  critics  upon  the  roll  of  a  court  proposed  to  be  holden  before  the 
Censor  of  Great  Britain.  For  reasons  given,  critics  are  not  re- 
quired to  be  men  of  genius,  or  of  learning;  they  should  be  able  to 
read,  and  should  in  fact  read  at  least  ten  pages  of  every  work  they, 
criticise ;  when  they  condemn,  they  should  give  some  reason  for  their 
judgment,  and  should  not  indulge  in  the  words,  poor  stuff,  wretched 
stuff,  bad  stuff,  sad  stuff,  low  stuff,  paltry  stuff;  all  which  stuffs  are 
to  be  banished  from  the  mouths  of  our  critics.  Fielding  takes  as  a 
motto  to  his  published  Comedy  of  the  Intriguing  Chambermaid,  acted 


II.]  LITERATURE.  41 

at  Drury  Lane  in  1733,  the  expression  of  Martial,  Major es  nusquam 
ronchi. 

Vincent  Bourne  makes  use  of  Martial's  epigram  in  a  different 
sense  from  the  original ;  he  has  a  Latin  epigram  which  he  entitles : 

Poteris  tutior  esse  domi. 
You  will  be  safer  at  home. 

Dum  Mater  metuit  virgse  ne  verbera  lsedant, 
Ipsa  domi  puerum  servat,  et  ipsa  docet. 

Ipsa  doce  puerum  mater  tarn  blandula,  possit 
Tutus  ut  esse  domi,  stultus  et  esse  foris. 

Of  the  Rhinoceros  Nose,  Ben  Jonson  writes,  in  an  epigram  on 
Don  Surly: 

He  speaks  to  men  with  a  rhinocerotes  nose, 
Which  he  thinks  great;  and  so  reads  verses  too, 
And  that  is  done,  as  he  saw  great  men  do. 

Boileau  prefaces  his  Epistle  a  mes  vers,  with  a  quotation  from 
the  above  epigram  of  Martial ;  and,  apparently,  in  imitation  of  it  he 
writes : 

J'ay  beau  vous  arrester,  ma  remonstrance  est  vaine; 
Allez,  partez,  mes  vers,  dernier  fruit  de  ma  veine, 
C'est  trop  languir  chez  moi  dans  un  obscur  sejour, 
La  prison  vous  deplaist,  vous  cherchez  le  grand  jour, 
Et  deja  chez  Barbin,  ambitieux  libelles, 
Yous  brulez  d'etailler  vos  feuilles  criminelles. 


XXVIII. 

RECIPROCATING  CRITICS. 

Whilst  you  do  not  publish  any  poem  of  your  own,  you 
carp  at  mine:  do  not  carp  at  mine,  or,  if  you  do,  publish 
yours. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xcn. 

The  above  epigram  would  not  be  deserving  of  notice  for  any  sense 
or  wit  contained  in  it,  but  that  it  has  been  honoured  by  the  uses 


42  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

made  of  it,  chiefly,  as  it  may  seem,  on  account  of  its  terseness  of 
expression. 

Sir  Robert  Atkyns,  in  his  well-known  argument  on  the  Dis- 
pensing Power,  censures  Chief- Justice  Vaughan  somewhat  unrea- 
sonably, because  he  had  found  fault  with  Lord  Coke's  definition  of 
a  dispensation,  but  had  not  substituted  any  definition  of  his  own. 
He  writes,  "Though  Chief-Justice  Yaughan  quarrels  with  Lord 
Coke's  definition,  and  says  that  it  is  ignotum  per  ignotius;  yet,  under 
favour,  if  he  disliked  that,  he  should  have  given  us  a  better  Carpere 
vel  noli  nostra,  vel  ede  tua." 

Lord  Coke  concludes  the  Preface  to  his  celebrated  Reports,  ho- 
noured by  the  appellation  of  The  Reports,  by  adopting  part  of  the 
above  epigram,  and  supplying  half  an  hexameter  of  his  own ;  thus  he 
writes,  "  and  so  I  conclude  with  the  poet : 

Cum  tua  non  edas,  his  utere,  et  annue,  lector, 
Carpere  vel  noli  nostra,  vel  ede  tua." 


XXIX. 

DECEASED   POETS. 


Vacerra!  you  admire  only  the  ancients;  your  praise  is 
restricted  to  the  deceased  poets.  Pardon  me,  Vacerra,  if  I 
do  not  think  your  praise  of  so  much  value  as  to  die  for  it. 
— Lib.  viii.  Ep.  lxix. 

Fuller,  in  the  preface  to  his  Worthies,  anticipates  various  excep- 
tions to  his  book,  which  he  enumerates  with  its  answers. 

"Exception  17.  You  have  omitted  many  memorable  persons  still 
surviving,  as  meriting  as  any  you  have  inserted. 

Answer.  The  return  of  Martial,  in  a  case  not  much  unlike,  may 
much  befriend  me : 

Miraris  veteres,  Yacerra,  solos, 
Nee  laudas  nisi  mortuos  poetas 


II.]  LITERATURE.  43 

Ignoscas,  petinius,  Vacerra:  tanti 
Non  est,  ut  placeam  tibi,  perire. 

Deceased  authors  thou  admir'st  alone, 
And  only  praisest  poets  dead  and  gone: 
Vacerra,  pardon  me,  I  will  not  buy 
Thy  praise  so  dear,  as  for  the  same  to  die. 

All  men  being  like  minded  with  Martial  herein,  none  surviving  will 
distaste  their  omission  in  a  work  confined  to  the  memories  of  the 
departed." 

Cowley,  in  the  preface  to  his  works,  talks  of  retiring  to  the 
American  plantations,  and  of  the  death  of  his  Muse ;  on  which  sub- 
ject he  quotes  a  line  from  Martial's  epigram,  with  a  variation ;  viz. 
"  Tanti  est  ut  placeam  tibi,  perire"  adding,  that  it  was  the  "  un- 
doubted privilege  of  deceased  poets  to  be  read  with  more  favour  than 
the  living." 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Discourse  mi  Remedies  against  the  Fear  of 
Death,  quotes  a  line  from  Martial's  epigram,  "Nee  laudas  nisi  mortuos 
poetas,"  upon  which  he  observes  :  "  Certain  it  is  that  death  hath 
some  good  upon  its  proper  stock;  praise,  and  a  fair  memory,  a  re- 
verence and  religion  towards  the  deceased  so  great  that  it  is  counted 
dishonour  to  speak  evil  of  the  dead." 


XXX. 

POSTHUMOUS  WOKKS. 

0  Faustinus,  at  length  present  your  books  to  the  public, 
they  are  works  matured  in  a  learned  breast,  which  the  Citadel 
of  Athens  will  not  condemn,  nor  our  experienced  country- 
men pass  over  (as  rejected  candidates)  in  silence.  Do  you 
hesitate  to  let  in  Fame  when  standing  for  admittance  be- 
fore your  threshold,  and  does  it  grieve  you  to  reap  the 
rewards  of  your  own  diligence?  May  your  poems,  which 
will  survive  you,  begin  to  live  by  your  means.  The  glory 
which  is  shed  upon  ashes  arrives  full  late. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xxvi. 


44  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

The  above  epigram  furnishes  the  motto  taken  for  the  edition  of 
the  posthumous  poems  of  Lovelace  published  a.d.  1659,  with  the 
following  title  :  "  Posthume  Poems  of  Richard  Lovelace,  Esq. 
Those  honours  come  too  late, 
That  on  our  ashes  waite." 
The  motto  of  the  129th  number  of  the  Connoisseur  is 
Post  cineres  gloria  sera  venit. 
Fame  to  our  ashes  comes,  alas!  too  late, 
And  praise  smells  rank  upon  the  coffin-plate. 

The  Paper  consists  of  a  letter  from  Thomas  Vainall,  consulting 
the  Connoisseur  as  to  the  mode  of  bequeathing  his  fortune  in  a  manner 
to  "  buy  fame  with  it  after  his  death." 

Jeremy  Taylor  writes,  in  reference  to  the  conclusion  of  the  above 
epigram  of  Martial,  which  he  cites,  "  It  is  in  piety,  as  in  fame  and 
reputation,  he  secures  a  good  name  but  loosely,  that  trusts  his  fame 
and  celebrity  only  to  his  ashes." 


XXXI. 

IMAGES  IK  VERSE  AND  IN  PAINTING. 

This  which  you  behold  is  the  face  of  my  Camonus ;  this 
is  his  picture  when  he  was  young;  his  countenance  became 
more  manly  by  twenty  years,  and  a  beard  had,  as  if  joy- 
fully, darkened  his  cheeks;  a  beard  of  which  the  bright 
down  had  scattered  the  honours  of  its'  first  tonsure.  The 
Parcse  grew  envious,  and  cut  the  thread  of  his  life  before 
it  was  fully  spun.  An  urn  brought  his  ashes  to  his  father 
from  a  distant  funeral  pyre;  but  that  this  picture  should 
not  be  the  sole  representation  of  the  youth,  behold  a  greater 
image  in  my  verses. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  lxxviii. 

In  a  copy  of  Waller's  poems,  published  in  1686,  "at  the  blew 
anchor  in  the  lower  walk  of  the  new  exchange,"  is  a  frontispiece  of 


II.]  LITERATURE.  45 

Waller's  portrait,  with  an  inscription  round  it  of  Effigies  Edmundi 
Wallerii,  and  underneath  the  words,  from  the  above  epigram, 
Sed  Carmina  major  imago. 
To  the  like  effect  Cartwright  concludes  his  elegy  on  Ben  Jonson, 
Yet  if  he  do  not  at  his  full  appear, 
Survey  him  in  his  works,  and  know  him  there. 
The  bringing  an  urn  from  a  distance  is  beautifully  described  by 
Martial : 

Rettulit  ossa  sinu  cari  Nigrina  mariti, 

Et  questa  est  longas  non  satis  esse  vias: 
Cumque  daret  sanctam  tumulis  quibus  invidet,  urnam, 
Visa  sibi  est  rapto  bis  viduata  viro. 


XXXII. 

A  RECITER  OF  BOUGHT  VERSES. 

Paulus  buys  verses ;  Paulus  recites  his  own  verses.  And 
they  are  his  own,  for  that  which  you  buy,  you  have  a  right 
(possis  jure)  to  call  yours. — Lib.  n.  Ep.  xx. 

The  point  in  the  above  epigram,  which  Martial  repeats  in  Various 
forms,  may  not  be  devoid  of  interest,  if  it  may  possibly  have  been 
the  germ  of  a  very  celebrated  epigram  made  upon  Pope  Alexander, 
quoted  by  Coke  and  Bacon  : 

Vendit  Alexander  claves,  altaria,  Christum, 
Vendere  jure  potest,  emerat  ille  prius. 

An  epigram  on  Leo  X.  dying  without  having  received  extreme 
unction,  and  the  sale  of  whose  Indulgences  had  such  important  re- 
sults, may,  in  like  manner,  not  very  improbably,  be  traceable  to 
Martial's  epigram : 

Leon  sans  sacramens  expire, 
Comment  les  auroit-il  regus? 
Avant  sa  mort  le  Maitre  Sire 
Des  long-tems  les  avoit  vendus. 


46  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

XXXIII. 

AUTHOR  MADE   BY  RECITATION. 

0  Fidentinus!  the  book  you  are  reciting  is  mine,  but 
you  recite  it  so  badly  that  it  begins  to  be  yours. — Lib,  i. 
Up.  xxxix. 

The  conclusion  of  the  above  epigram,  thus  slightly  varied,  Bum 
recitas  incipit  esse  tuus,  is  adopted  by  Addison  as  a  motto  for  the 
568th  number  of  the  Spectator,  in  which  he  represents  that  Mr  Spec- 
tator joined  a  party  of  smokers  at  a  coffee-house,  and  upon  his  taking 
up  the  last  Spectator,  and  remarking  upon  it  that  it  was  very  witty 
that  day;  a  conversation  arose  in  which  several  of  the  party  mis- 
construed the  paper  as  though  it  contained  a  series  of  personal 
reflections.  In  reference  to  certain  asterisks  an  old  gentleman  said, 
"Asterisks,  do  you  call  them;  they  are  all  of  them  stars — he  might 
as  well  have  put  garters  to  them."  In  adverting  to  some  chasm  or 
dash,  the  same  gentleman  said,  "  You  may  easily  know  his  meaning 
by  his  gaping;  I  suppose  he  designs  his  chasm,  as  you  call  it,  for  a 
hole  to  creep  out  at,  but  it  will  hardly  serve  his  turn."  "  I  cannot 
for  my  life  (says  I)  imagine  whom  the  Spectator  means  1  No !  (says 
he),  your  humble  servant,  sir;  upon  which  he  flung  himself  back  in 
his  chair,  after  a  contemptuous  manner,  and  smiled  upon  an  old 
lethargic  gentleman  on  his  left  hand,  who,  I  found,  was  his  great 
admirer."  Addison  mentions  the  book  called  the  Whole  Duty  of 
Man  being  converted  into  a  libel,  by  writing  the  names  of  several 
persons  in  a  village  against  every  sin  mentioned  by  the  author. 

In  the  preface  to  the  edition  of  Waller's  poems,  licensed  in  1686 
in  Waller's  lifetime,  purporting  to  be  addressed  by  the  printer  to  the 
reader,  the  printer,  or  Waller  in  his  name,  commences  his  preface 
thus  :  "  When  the  author  of  these  verses  (written  only  to  please 
himself  and  such  particular  persons  to  whom  they  were  directed) 
returned  from  abroad  some  years  since,  he  was  troubled  to  find  his 
name  in  print,  but  was  somewhat  satisfied  to  see  his  lines  so  ill 
rendered  that  he  might  justly  disown  them,  and  say  to  a  mistaking 
printer,  as  one  did  to  an  ill  reciter,  Male  dum  recitas  incipit  esse 
tuus." 


II.]  LITERATURE.  47 

Bishop  Latimer,  when  a  Wiltshire  Parson,  in  a  letter  (see  Words- 
worth's Ecclesiastical  Biography)  complains  of  a  misconception  enter- 
tained of  one  of  his  sermons  by  the  then  Bishop  of  London,  thus  writ- 
ing on  the  subject :  "  As  for  my  preaching  the  sermon  itself,  I  trust 
my  Lord  of  London  cannot  rightfully  blame  it  as  I  spake  it ;  or,  else 
it  is  not  my  preaching,  but  his  that  falsely  reporteth  it,  as  the  Poet 
Martial  said  to  one  that  depraved  his  book,  Male  dum  recitas  incipit 


The  point  in  Martial's  epigram  has  been  transferred  to  transla- 
tions by  Racine : 

D'oii  vient  que,  Ciceron,  Platon,  Yirgile,  Homere, 
Et  tous  ces  grands  auteurs  que  l'univers  revere, 
Traduits  en  vos  ecrits  nous  paroissent  si  sots, 
Perrault?    C'est  qu'en  portant  a  ces  ^sprits  sublimes 
Vos  facons  de  parler,  vos  lassesses,  vos  rimes, 
Vous  les  fais  tous  paroitre  des  Perraults. 


XXXIV. 

AN   IMPORTUNATE   RECITER. 

Do  you  wish  to  know  the  cause  why  no  one  willingly 
meets  you?  that  wherever  you  come,  Ligurinus!  you  put 
people  to  flight,  and  create  a  solitude  around  you?  The 
cause  is,  that  you  are  too  much  of  a  poet  (nimis  poeta). 
This  is  a  very  perilous  fault.  A  tiger  exasperated  by  the 
capture  of  her  whelps,  a  serpent  scorched  by  the  mid-day 
sun,  a  fierce  scorpion  are  objects  of  less  dread.  For,  I  ask, 
who  would  willingly  sustain  the  labours  you  are  in  the 
habit  of  imposing?  You  read  your  verses  to  the  stander, 
you  read  them  to  the  sitter,  you  read  them  to  the  runner, 
you  read  them  to  every  one,  whatever  he  is  about.  I  fly 
to  the  warm  baths,  your  voice  sounds  in  my  ear.  I  seek 
a   cold   bath,    you   interrupt    my   swimming.    I   hasten    to 


48  MARTIAL   AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

supper,  you  detain  me  on  the  way;  I  have  got  to  supper 
before  you,  you  oblige  me  to  change  my  seat.  I  am  wearied 
with  hearing  you,  and  go  to  sleep,  you  rouse  me  as  I  re- 
cline on  my  couch.  Do  you  desire  to  know  the  harm  you 
do?  Just,  moral,  innocent  as  you  are  known  to  be  by  all 
men,  by  all  men  you  are  feared. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  xliv. 

Dry  den,  in  the  preface  to  his  Fables,  writes  that  "  Chaucer  fol- 
lowed nature  everywhere,  but  was  never  so  bold  as  to  go  beyond  her; 
for  there  is  a  great  difference  of  being  poeta  and  nimis  poeta,  if  we 
may  believe  Catullus,  as  much  as  betwixt  a  modest  behaviour  and 
affectation."  George  Lamb,  in  the  notes  to  his  translation  of  Catullus, 
observes  that  no  such  expression  as  nimis  poeta  occurs  in  Catullus, 
but  it  is  found  in  Martial's  epigram  to  Ligurinus. 

Sir  John  Denham,  in  the  dedication  of  his  poems  to  Charles  II., 
expresses  a  dread  of  obtaining  "  the  empty  airy  reputation  of  being 
nimis  poeta."  It  may  be  thought  that  neither  Dryden  nor  Denham 
apply  the  expression  nimis  poeta  in  the  same  sense  as  Martial,  who 
signifies  thereby  a  boring  reciter  of  his  own  verses ;  a  social  nuisance, 
of  the  extent  of  which  in  Home  an  idea  may  be  formed  from  Cole- 
ridge's Ancient  Mariner. 

Jeremy  Taylor  writes,  with  reference  to  the  above  epigram  of 
Martial,  "  The  very  doing  or  speaking  that  which  is  good  for  nothing 
is  evil.  We  see  it  even  in  the  judgments  of  men.  Martial  tells  us 
of  a  good  man  that  had  got  a  trick  to  invite  his  friends  to  walk,  to 
bathe,  to  eat,  to  drink  with  him;  in  all  which  interviews  he  would 
be  perpetually  reading  of  his  verses:  one  would  have  thought  the 
thing  itself  were  innocent,  if  the  question  had  been  asked  concerning 
the  thing  alone;  but  they  that  felt  the  folly  and  tediousness  of  it 
were  afraid  to  see  him.  * 

Vir  Justus,  probus,  innocens  timeris." 

And,  again,  in  a  discourse  on  the  Good  and  Evil  Tongue,  Jeremy 
Taylor  observes  that  "Plutarch  advises  that  talking  persons  should 
give  themselves  to  writing,  just  as  the  making  an  issue  in  the  arm 
draws  down  the  floods  of  the  head :  he  supposes  that  if  the  talking 
humour  were  any  way  vented,  the  tongue  might  be  brought  to  reason. 
But  the  experience  of  the  world  hath  confuted  this  opinion;  and 


II.]  LITERATURE.  49 

when  Zigurinus  did  write  a  poem,  he  talked  of  it  to  all  companies 
he  came  in.  However,  it  can  be  no  hurt  to  try,  for  some  have 
been  cured  of  bleeding  at  the  nose,  by  opening  a  vein  in  the  arm." 

In  the  same  discourse  Jeremy  Taylor  writes ;  "  Such  was  the 
humour  of  the  gentleman  Martial  speaks  of:  he  was  a  good  man,  and 
full  of  sweetness  and  justice  and  nobleness,  but  he  would  read  his 
nonsense  verses  to  all  companies,  at  the  public  games,  at  private 
feasts,  in  the  baths,  and  on  the  couches,  in  public  and  in  private,  to 
sleeping  and  waking  people, 

Yis,  quantum  facias  mali,  videre? 
Vir  Justus,  probus,  innocens,  timeris. 

Every  one  was  afraid  of  him,  and  though  he  was  good  he  was  not 
to  be  endured.  There  are  some  persons  so  full  of  nothings,  that,  like 
the  straight  sea  of  Pontus,  they  perpetually  empty  themselves  by 
their  mouth,  making  every  company  or  single  person  they  fasten 
upon  their  Propontis." 


XXXV. 

POET   AND   MUSE. 


Five,  or  six,  or  seven  little  books  (libelli)  were  enough, 
and  more  than  enough;  why  does  my  Muse  please  still  to 
continue  her  sportiveness?  Let  modesty  have  place,  let 
there  be  an  end  of  epigrams.  Fame  can  now  add  nothing 
to  my  name;  my  book  is  worn  out  with  reading  in  every 
place.  When  the  sepulchre  of  Messala  shall  be  laid  low  by 
Time,  and  when  the  lofty  marble  monument  of  Liein/us 
shall  be  no  more  than  dust,  I  shall  not  cease  to  be  read, 
and  many  a  visitor  to  Rome  shall  take  me  back  with 
him  to  his  own  country.  I  had  finished  my  excuse  for  de- 
clining to  write  another  book,  when  the  ninth  Muse  (Thalia) 
made  answer  to  me;    that  Muse  whose  locks   and  vest  are 

MART.  E 


50  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

smeared  with  ointment  (denoting  banquets).  Ungrateful! 
can  you  relinquish  your  sweet  trifles?  Tell  me,  what,  as 
a  man  of  leisure,  can  you  do  better?  Does  it  delight  you 
to  exchange  the  sock  for  the  tragic  cothurnus,  or  to  thunder 
about  wars  in  heroic  verse,  in  order  that  a  puffed-up  school- 
master may  take  the  lead  of  his  scholars  in  spouting  your 
poetry  with  a  hoarse  voice,  and  that  the  grown-up  virgin  and 
ingenuous  youth  may  detest  you?  Let  poems  of  that  nature 
be  written  by  poets  who  are  grave  and  severe  beyond  mea- 
sure, and  whose  miserable  plight  is  illumined  by  the  midnight 
lamp ;  but  do  you  savour  your  little  books  with  Roman  salt. 
Let  human  nature  recognise  in  your  pages  its  own  manners. 
Though  you  appear  to  be  playing  on  a  slender  reed,  that 
reed  may  sound  further  than  the  trumpets  of  many  other 
poets. — Lib,  vm.  Ep.  in. 

The  reader  may,  perhaps,  trace  a  connexion  between  the  above 
epigram,  which  incidentally  shows  the  popularity  of  Martial's  writ- 
ings, and  Cowley's  poem,  called  the  Complaint : 

And,  lo!  a  Muse  appear'd  to  his  clos'd  sight 

(The  Muses  oft  in  lands  of  vision  play), 

A  golden  harp  with  silver  strings  she  bore. 

■*  %  *  *  -X- 

She  touch'd  him  with  her  harp,  and  rais'd  him  from  the  ground ; 

The  shaken  strings  melodiously  resound. 

"Art  thou  return'd  at  last,"  said  she, 

"To  this  forgotten  place  and  me? 

Thou  prodigal!" 

*  *  *  *  •  * 

Thus  spake  the  Muse,  and  spake  it  with  a  smile 

That  seem'd  at  once  to  pity  and  revile; 

And  to  her  thus,  raising  his  thoughtful  head, 

The  melancholy  Cowley  said. 

The  marble  tomb  of  Licinus,  the  Roman  barber  (Licini  marmora), 

has  been  used  by  the  commentators  to  illustrate  an  epigram  very  often 

quoted : 

Marmoreo  tumulo  Licinus  jacet,  at  Cato  parvo, 

Pompeius  nullo;  quis  putet  esse  Deos? 


II.]  LITERATURE.  51 

Which  is  thus  translated  by  Archbishop  Sancroft  in  his  treatise  on 
Modern  Politics : 

Licinus  does  in  marble  sleep, 
A  common  urn  does  Cato  keep, 
Pompey's  ashes  may  catch  cold, 
That  there  are  Gods,  let  dotards  hold. 
Persius    and   Martial    illustrate   each   other    on   the   subject   of 
popular  compositions,  the  verba  togce  as  distinguished  from  robusti 
carminis  off  as ;  the  former  pleasantly  concluding, 

Mensamque  relinque  Mycenis 
Cum  capite  et  pedibus,  plebeiaque  prandia  noris. 


XXXVI. 

A   WELCOMED   AUTHOR 

Here  he  is  whose  books  you  read,  and  whom  you  inquire 
for.  Here  is  Martial,  renowned  through  the  whole  world  for 
his  acute  epigrams.  The  honour  which,  0  studious  reader, 
you  have  conferred  upon  him  whilst  alive  and  sentient,  is 
what  few  poets  enjoy  even  in  their  ashes. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  i. 

The  words  "Ille  quem  requiris"  (He,  whom  you  seek),  taken 
from  the  above  epigram,  (the  first  of  the  first  book  of  Martial's 
epigrams,)  is  the  motto  of  the  first  number  of  the  Guardian.  The 
last  volume  of  the  Spectator  was  concluded  on  Dec.  6,  1712.  The 
Guardian  made  its  appearance  March  12,  1713,  and  was  published 
daily  till  Oct.  1,  1713,  concluding  with  number  175.  After  the 
cessation  of  the  Spectator,  the  inquiry  might,  veiy  probably,  have 
been  often  made,  whether  the  pens  of  Addison  and  Steele  might 
not  again  be  resumed  for  public  instruction  and  entertainment; 
and,  therefore,  the  motto  "  Ille  quem  requiris "  was  an  appropriate 
expression  of  the  expectations  or  wishes  of  the  community. 


i:  -1 


52  MARTIAL   AND   THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 


XXXVII. 

READERS. 

Whither,  0  Book !  whither,  at  your  ease,  are  you  wend- 
ing your  path,  clothed,  as  we  behold  you,  in  fine  linen,  not 
seen  every  day?  Are  you  attempting  to  visit  Parthenius? 
Go  to  him,  and  return  without  being  unrolled,  (with 
leaves  uncut).  He  does  not  read  books,  except  short  ones; 
he  has  no  time  for  the  Muses,  or  he  would  give  it  to  his 
own  Muses.  Is  it  possible  that  you  consider  yourself  suffi- 
ciently happy  if  you  fall  into  the  hands  of  inferior  readers? 
In  that  case,  seek  the  neighbouring  portico  of  Romulus; 
Pompey,  in  his  portico,  has  not  a  more  idle  crowd,  nor  Europa, 
nor  Jason  with  his  picture  of  Argonauts,  in  their  porticos. 
You  may  find  in  Romulus's  portico  two  or  three  readers  who 
may  shake  out  the  moths  from  your  rolls;  but  even  those 
readers  can  only  be  hoped  for  when  there  is  a  truce  to  the 
bettings  and  braggings  {sponsio,  fabidceque)  about  the  rival 
charioteers,  Scorpus  and  Incitatus. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  i. 

Dr  Johnson  adopts  part  of  the  above  epigram  as  a  motto  for  the 
146th  number  of  the  Rambler,  with  a  poetical  English  version: 

'Tis  possible  that  one  or  two 
These  fooleries  of  mine  may  view; 
But  then  the  bettings  must  be  o'er, 
Nor  Crab,  nor  Ghilders  talked  of  more. 

Johnson  commences  his  Paper  by  observing  that  "none  of  the 
projects  or  designs  which  exercise  the  mind  of  man  are  equally 
subject  to  obstructions  and  disappointments  with  the  pursuit  of 
fame."  He  gives  a  lively  picture  of  an  author  who  has  just  pub- 
lished a  work  composed  with  long  toil.  He  places  him,  first,  in  an 
obscure  corner  of  a  Coffee-room,  appearing  to  be  poring  over  a  file 
of  antiquated  journals,  but  catching  the  conversation  of  the  whole 
company :  parties  enter  and  disperse ;  he,  however,  hears  nothing  of 


II.]  LITERATURE.  53 

his  book;  lie  then  ranges  over  the  town  with  restless  curiosity,  and 
finds  public  attention  engaged  upon  a  multitude  of  subjects,  but  not 
upon  his  book;  he  resolves,  at  last,  to  violate  his  own  modesty,  and 
to  recall  talkers  from  their  folly  by  an  inquiry  after  himself.  The 
answers  are  set  forth,  which  are  all  to  the  effect  of  giving  reasons 
why  they  have  not  read  his  book.  The  Paper  concludes  with  obser- 
vations worthy  of  Johnson's  pen,  tending  to  show  "  how  little  renown 
can  be  admitted  in  the  world." 

The  excitement  of  the  Roman  people,  occasioned  by  the  spon- 
siones  or  wagers  on  the  results  of  the  public  games,  is  mentioned  by 
Tertullian,  in  his  treatise  De  Spectaculis.  The  popularity  of  Scorpus 
and  Incitatus  appears  from  their  gains  as  compared  with  those  of 
Poets,  which  are  the  subject  of  several  of  Martial's  epigrams. 

Becker,  in  an  Excursus  on  the  Books,  in  his  Gallus,  quotes  the 
passage  in  the  above  epigram,  cultus  sindone  non  quotidiand,  as  illus- 
trating the  mode  of  preserving  the  Roman  rolls  from  damage  by 
means  of  a  handsome  envelope,  which  Martial  elsewhere  calls  pur- 
purea toga. 


XXXVIII. 
REMUNERATION   OF   AUTHORS. 

(I.) 
You,  who  were  accustomed,  in  the  business  of  a  cobbler, 
to  stretch  out  old  skins  with  your  teeth,  and  to  bite  the 
soles  of  shoes  dirtied  with  mud,  now  enjoy  the  Prsenestine 
lands  by  the  last  will  of  your  late  patron ;  in  which  you 
are  not  worthy  to  possess  even  a  stall.  Drunk  with  hot 
Falernian  wine,  you  break  the  crystal  vases  which  belonged 
to  your  patron,  and  of  which,  as  of  his  cup-bearer,  you  have 
become  master.  But  my  foolish  parents  taught  me  letters. 
What  had  I  to  do  with  grammarians  and  rhetoricians? 
Break,  0  Thalia !  my  writing-reed,  tear  the  leaves  of  my 
books,  if  a  shoe  can  thus  enrich  a  cobbler. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.hxxv. 


54  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

(II.) 

That  I  write  entertaining  poems  when  I  am  capable  of 
serious  compositions,  you,  kind  reader,  are  the  cause ;  you, 
who  read  and  sing  my  verses  throughout  Rome.  Yet  you 
know  not  how  much  your  favour  costs  me.  If  I  were  to 
plead  causes  near  the  temple  of  Saturn  in  the  Forum,  and 
to  sell  my  words  (vendere  verba)  to  such  as  tremble  under 
criminal  accusation,  many  a  sailor  would  send  me  Spanish 
jars,  and  the  fold  of  my  toga  would  be  soiled  with  coins  of 
all  denominations.  But  now  my  book  is  a  guest,  and  a 
reveller,  and  my  page  is  gratuitous.  Ancient  authors  were 
not  contented  with  barren  praise,  and  Virgil  acknowledges 
presents  from  Msecenas.  You  say,  that  I  have  written  with 
elegance,  and  that  such  praise  is  enough  for  me ;  thus  I  am 
to  be  paid  with  praises  for  ever.  Do  you  pretend  not  to 
understand  my  hints?  I  think  you  will  really  make  me  a 
lawyer. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xvi, 

Fielding  has  taken  a  motto  for  the  42nd  number  of  the  Covent 
Garden  Journal,  from  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams, 

Me  litterulas  stulti  docuere  parentes, 
which  he  translates, 

My  father  was  a  fool 
When  he  sent  me  to  school. 

In  this  Paper  Fielding  treats  of  the  maxim  that  "Scholars 
know  nothing  of  the  world  :"  he  takes  an  exaggerated  view,  but  in  a 
pleasant  vein  of  irony,  of  a  person  whose  "  notions  of  the  world  are 
drawn  from  letters,"  and  carries  him  to  levees,  to  hunting-matches, 
and  horse-races,  and  to  a  "  drum  or  rout."  For  instance,  "  let  us 
suppose  a  man  possessed  of  this  jaundice  of  literature  conveyed  into 
the  levees  of  the  great.  What  notion  will  he  be  likely  to  entertain 
of  the  several  persons  who  compose  that  illustrious  assembly,  from 
their  behaviour  1  How  will  he  be  puzzled  when  he  is  told  that  he 
hath  before  his  eyes  a  number  of  freemen  ?  How  much  more  will  he 
be  amazed  when  he  hears  that  all  the  servility  he  there  beholds  arises 
only  from  an  eager  desire  to  be  permitted  to  serve  the  country  1     In 


II.]  LITERATURE.  55 

like  manner  the  jaundiced  man  will  be  amazed  when  he  is  told  that 
the  whole  business  of  the  lives  of  the  ladies  present  at  a  drum  or  rout 
is  only  to  toss  about  from  one  to  the  other  certain  pieces  of  painted 
paper."  Fielding  supposes  a  scholar,  when  he  first  comes  to  town 
from  the  University,  to  be  like  a  man  "  translated  into  one  of  the 
planets ;  the  world  in  the  town  and  that  in  the  moon  being  equally 
strange  to  him,  and  equally  unintelligible."  He  thus  paraphrases 
Horace's  adage, 

Vitse  summa  brevis 
Spem  nos  vetat  inchoare  Ion  gam. 

"  The  shortness  of  life  affords  no  time  for  a  tedious  education." 
The  first  two  lines  of  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams, 
Seria  cum  possim,  quod  delectantia  malim 
Scribere,  tu  causa  es,  lector, 

is  the  motto  of  the  140th  number  of  the  World,  which  treats  of  the 
festivities  (delectantia)  of  Christmas,  being  published  on  the  day  after 
Christmas-day.  The  present  of  Spanish  jars  (Hispanas  metretas)  may 
possibly  have  suggested  Pope's  well-known  line, 

Sir  !  Spain  has  sent  a  thousand  jars  of  oil. 

Becker,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Gallus,  when  treating  of  the 
relation  between  bookseller  and  author  in  ancient  Rome,  notices  par- 
ticularly the  passage,  in  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams,  about  the 
gratuitous  page  (gratis  pagina  nostra),  intimating  that  Martial  had 
probably  sold  his  book  to  the  bookseller,  and  thus,  in  one  sense, 
ceased  to  derive  a  profit  from  the  sale.  He  observes  that  "it  is 
inconceivable  how  Martial,  who,  according  to  his  own  account,  was 
always  in  want  of  money,  should  have  endured  quietly  to  look  on, 
while  Tryphon,  or  Pollius,  or  Secundus,  made  a  considerable  profit  of 
his  poems ;  for  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  his  books  were  very 
successful ; "  and  he  quotes  a  distich  from  Martial  on  the  sale  of 
Lucan's  Pharsalia,  to  shew  that  the  sale  of  books  was  profitable  : 

Sunt  quidam,  qui  me  dicunt  non  esse  poetam, 
Sed  qui  me  vendit  bibliopola  putat. 

In  inquiries  concerning  the  profits  of  Roman  authors  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  into  consideration  the  absence,  in  ancient  Rome,  of 
a  law  of  copyright :   without  such  a  law  the  booksellers  might  make 


56  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

a  fortune  out  of  the  sale  of  the  Pharsalia  without  liability  of  ac- 
counting to  Polla,  whom  Martial  (in  his  epigram  on  Lucan's  birth- 
day) has  immortalized  as  Lucan's  widow.  Martial,  however,  does 
not  complain,  like  Dryden  and  many  of  our  poets,  of  the  cormorants 
who  sit  on  the  tree  of  knowledge. 


XXXIX. 

AUTHOR   IN   WANT   OF  A   CLOAK. 

Rufus  !  a  man,  the  other  day,  inspected  me  as  closely 
as  though  he  had  been  about  to  buy  me  for  a  slave,  or 
choose  me  for  a  gladiator  ;  at  last  he  broke  silence,  and  said, 
Are  you  that  Martial  whose  wit  is  familiar  to  every  ear  but 
that  of  a  Dutchman  (aurem  Batavam)  ?  I  smiled,  and 
slightly  nodded  assent.  Upon  which  he  said,  "Why  then 
have  you  so  bad  a  cloak"  (lacerna).  I  answered,  "  Because 
I  am  a  bad  poet/'  That  this  may  not  happen  again,  Rufus  ! 
to  a  Poet,  send  me  a  good  cloak. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  lxxxii. 

Pope,  in  a  letter  to  H.  Cromwell,  Esq.,  thus  avails  himself  of 
expressions  in  this  and  in  the  epigram  of  this  chapter  on  an  Attic 
Patron :  "  I  agree  with  you  in  your  censure  of  the  use  of  the  sea- 
terms  in  Mr  Dryden' s  Virgil,  not  only  because  Helenus  was  no  great 
prophet  in  those  matters,  but  because  no  words  of  art  or  cant  words 
suit  with  the  majesty  and  dignity  of  style  which  epic  poetry  requires. 
The  tarpaulin  phrase  can  please  none  but  such  qui  aurem  habent 
Batavam;  they  must  not  expect  auribus  Atticis probari.  I  think  I 
have  brought  in  two  phrases  of  Martial  here  very  dexterously."  The 
tarpaulin  phrases  alluded  to  are  such  as  are  noticed  by  Walter  Scott, 
in  his  Life  of  Dryden,  as, 

Tack  to  the  larboard,  and  stand  off  to  sea, 

Veer  starboard  sea  and  land. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  §7 

XL. 

ADVANTAGES   OF   A   PATRON. 

0,  little  book,  to  whom  do  you  desire  to  be  dedicated  ? 
Hasten  to  procure  to  yourself  a  Patron,  lest  quickly  you 
be  hurried  into  a  dark  kitchen,  there  to  cover  little  fishes 
with  your  wetted  papyrus,  or  to  be  made  a  hood  {cucullus) 
for  holding  pepper  and  frankincense.  You  fly  to  the  sinus 
(principal  fold  of  the  toga)  of  Faustinus  ?  You  are  wise.  Now 
you  may  walk  abroad,  anointed  with  cedar-oil,  and  polished 
at  both  ends  (gemino  honore  frontis) :  you  may  luxuriate  in 
painted  umbilicis  (cylinder  with  painted  knobs  round  which 
the  volumen  was  rolled);  delicate  purple  may  clothe  you, 
and  you  may  wear  a  proud  title  (Index)  inscribed  on  cloth  of 
a  deep  red  colour.  With  such  a  patron  and  champion,  you 
may  defy  the  critic  Probus. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  ir. 

Becker,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Gallus,  when  treating  of  Roman 
Books,  adverts  to  the  above  epigram,  as  giving  a  more  comprehensive 
description  of  the  ornaments  of  books  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  other 
ancient  writers;  the  gemince /routes,  umbilicus,  and  index,  are  terms  of 
bookbinders  that  are  explained,  principally  from  Martial,  by  Becker, 
and  by  Dr  Smith  in  his  Dictionary  of  Antiquities.  "With  regard  to 
the  term  cucullus  (a  hood  or  cowl),  as  applied  to  paper  in  the  above 
epigram,  it  is  referred  to  by  the  writer  of  an  article  on  a  MS.  of  Aratus, 
in  the  26th  volume  of  the  Archceologia  of  the  Antiquarian  Society, 
as  showing,  among  other  proofs,  that  there  were  several  papers  in 
common  use  among  the  Romans  besides  that  made  of  papyrus  :  he 
thinks  that  paper  manufactured  of  papyrus  could  not  from  its  brittle 
nature  conveniently  have  been  twisted  into  the  shape  of  a  hood  or 
wrapper  for  the  purpose  of  holding  pepper  and  frankincense. 

Coryat,  in  his  pedantic  style,  which  led  Ben  Jonson  to  apply  to 
him  the  term  Logo-Dwdalus,  concludes  what  is  a  highly  interesting 
letter  from  India,  thus  :  "  Yet  one  postscript  more  by  way  of  corol- 
lary, being  the  fourth  and  last,  I  will  add,  as  the  final  umbilick  to 
this  tedious  English  Indian  epistle." 


58  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 


XLL 
A  WILLING  PATRON. 

Little  Book !  if  you  are  well  acquainted  with  Sabinus, 
the  honour  of  the  mountainous  Umbria,  you  will  present  him 
with  this  collection  of  epigrams,  whether  or  not  he  be,  at  the 
time,  busy.  Though  a  thousand  cares  assail  and  oppress  him, 
yet  he  will  find  leisure  for  my  verses :  for  he  loves  me,  and 
next  to  the  noble  books  of  Turnus  he  values  mine.  0  what 
a  name  is  in  store  for  me !  0  what  glory,  and  how  many 
lovers  shall  I  have  !  And  you,  my  little  Book  !  will  be  talked 
of  in  the  Forum,  and  at  all  banquets,  temples,  streets,  por- 
ticos, taverns.  You  will  be  sent  to  one,  but  will  be  read 
by  all.— Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xcvi. 

In  Ben  Jonson's  address  to  his  Muse,  in  his  Underwoods,  the 
above  epigram  of  Martial  is  closely  copied,  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  being 
substituted  for  Sabinus.     Ben  Jonson  thus  concludes : 

Say  he  be 
Busy,  or  frown  at  first,  when  he  sees  thee 
He  will  clear  up  his  forehead;  think  thou  bring'st 
Good  omen  to  him  in  the  note  thou  sing'st. 
For  he  doth  love  my  verses,  and  will  look 
Upon  them  next  to  Spenser's  noble  book, 
And  praise  them  too.     O  what  a  fame  'twill  be, 
What  reputation  to  my  lines  and  me, 
When  he  shall  read  them  at  the  Treasurer's  board, 
The  knowing  Weston,  and  that  learned  lord 
Allows  them!     Then,  what  copies  shall  be  had, 
What  transcripts  begg'd !  how  cried  up,  and  how  glad 
Wilt  thou  be,  Muse,  when  this  shall  them  befall! 
Being  sent  to  one,  they  will  be  read  of  all. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  59 


XLII. 

AN   ATTIC   PATRON. 

If  you  desire  to  be  approved  of  by  Attic  ears  (auribus 
Atticis  probari),  I  admonish  and  exhort  you,  little  Book! 
to  ingratiate  yourself  with  the  learned  Apollinaris  ;  than 
whom  there  is  no  one  more  erudite  nor  of  more  exquisite 
taste,  nor  who,  at  the  same  time,  is  more  candid  and 
benevolent.  If  he  cherishes  you  in  his  breast,  and  repeats 
you  with  his  mouth,  you  will  have  no  cause  to  fear  the 
snortings  (rhonclios)  of  malignity,  nor  will  you  furnish  broiling 
tunics  (tunicas  molestas)  for  herrings.  If  he  condemn  you, 
you  may  hasten  immediately  to  the  stalls  of  the  sellers  of 
salt  and  salted  provisions,  to  be  ploughed  on  the  back 
(unwritten  side)  by  school-boys  {otherwise,  saltsellers'  boys). 
— Lib.  iv.  Ep.  lxxxvii. 

Martial's  phrase  of  tunica  molesta,  or  the  pitchy  shirt  in  which 
criminals  were  burnt,  for  the  paper  in  which  fish,  particularly  scombri 
(herrings  or  mackerel),  were  enveloped,  is  used  by  him,  probably,  on 
account  of  such  fish  being  dressed  like  our  red-mullets,  or  Maintenon 
cutlets.  With  regard  to  the  salarii,  and  the  ploughboys  of  paper, 
much  is  written  by  the  commentators.  The  passage  inversa  arande 
charta  is  cited  by  antiquarians  to  shew  that  rolled  volumes  were 
usually  written  on  one  side  only.  The  expression,  auribus  Atticis 
probari,  has  been  above  adverted  to  in  the  epigram  on  "  An  Author 
in  want  of  a  Cloak,"  as  used  by  Pope.  „ 

In  allusion,  probably,  to  the  above  epigram,  and  to  another  by 
Martial,  beginning, 

Ne  toga  condylis,  et  psenula  desit  olivis, 
Milton  writes  against  the  knight   Claudius   Salmasius,   the  famous 
apologist  of  Charles  I. : 

Gaudete  scombri,  et  quicquid  est  piscium  salo, 

Qui  frigida  hyeme  incolitis  algentes  freta ! 

Vestrum  misertus  ille  Salmasius,  Eques 

Bonus,  amicire  nuditatem  cogitat: 


60  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Chartseque  largus  apparat  papyrinos 
Vobis  cucullos  prseferentes  Claudii 
Insignia,  nomenque,  et  decus  Salmasii. 
Gestetis  ut  per  omne  cetarium  forum 
Equitis  client  es,  scriniis  mungentium 
Cubito  virorum,  et  capsulis,  gratissimos. 

Rejoice,  ye  Herrings!  and  all  fishes  who  shiver  in  the  seas  in  the 
coldness  of  winter;  for  Salinasius,  the  good  knight,  has  pity  upon 
you,  and  has  an  intention  of  clothing  your  nakedness.  He  is  pre- 
paring in  a  bountiful  spirit  hoods  of  papyrus  for  you  all,  which  shall 
bear  on  the  face  of  them  the  coat  of  arms,  and  the  name  and  fame  of 
Claudius  Salmasius.  As  the  knights'  clients  you  shall  wear  hoods 
made  out  of  the  leaves  of  his  (unsaleable)  book,  in  every  fish-market ; 
a  species  of  envelope  which  cannot  fail  of  being  very  acceptable  at  the 
stalls  and  shelves  of  the  fishmongers. 

Montaigne  expresses  himself  in  a  similar  vein  concerning  his  own 
writings.  After  quoting  Martial,  he  writes  :  "  I  shall,  peradventure, 
keep  a  pound  of  butter  in  the  market  from  melting  in  the  sun ;  yet, 
though  nobody  should  read  me,  have  I  lost  my  time  in  entertaining 
myself  so  many  idle  hours  in  pleasing  and  useful  thoughts?" 


XLIII. 

PLAGIARIES. 


(i.) 
Fidentinus!  There  is*  one  page  of  your  own  in  the 
middle  of  the  book  the  whole  of  which  you  profess  to  have 
written;  but  that  page  bears  an  indisputable  indication  of 
its  authorship,  convicting  you,  in  the  rest,  of  manifest  theft. 
Thus  the  materials  of  a  rough  Gallic  cloak  degrade  a  violet 
garb  of  the  city  by  their  admixture;  thus  does  Aretine 
pottery  spoil  a  crystal  vase ;  thus  does  a  black  crow,  hap- 
pening to  wander  on  the  banks  of  the  Cayster,  excite  laughter 
when  seen  among  the  white  swans  ;  thus  when  a  sacred  grove 


i 


II.]  LITERATURE.  61 

is  alive  with  the  varied  note  of  the  Attic  bird,  does  the  voice 
of  a  wicked  magpie  jar  with  its  plaintive  strains.  I  need  no 
one  to  point  ont  what  part  of  your  book  is  mine,  no  one  to 
vindicate  me;  your  own  page  confronts  you,  and  proclaims 
you  a  thief.— Lib.  i.  Ep.  liv. 

(ii.) 
I  was  writing  an  epic  poem,  but  when  you  announced 
that  you  were  beginning  to  write  one,  I  desisted,  in  order  to 
avoid  rivalry.  My  Thalia  thereupon  transferred  itself  to  the 
tragic  cothurni,  you  immediately  fitted  to  yourself  the  long 
syrma  (train) ;  I  struck  the  Muse's  lyre,  you  forthwith  seized 
the  plectrum  (quill  to  play  on  the  strings  of  the  lyre)  with 
a  new-born  ambition.  I  dared  to  write  satires,  you  strove 
to  be  Lucilius.  I  take  sport  in  light  elegies,  you  fancy  the 
same  kind  of  sport.  What  lower  style  of  poetry  can  I 
choose?  I  begin  to  fashion  epigrams,  here  also  you  grudge 
me  my  fame.  Choose  what  you  do  not  like ;  it  is  a  shame 
to  like  every  thing.  Thus  if  there  be  any  species  of  com- 
position you  do  not  like  to  undertake,  leave  that  for  me. — 
Lib.  xn.  Ep.  xcvi. 

Ben  Jonson  appears  to  have  had  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams 
in  his  view  in  his  own  epigram  on  Poet- Ape,  which  concludes : 

Fool !  as  if  half  eyes  will  not  know  a  fleece 

From  locks  of  wool,  or  shreds  from  the  whole  piece. 

Still  more  closely  has  Ben  Jonson  imitated  the  second  of  the 
above  epigrams,  but  in  a  less  lively  strain  than  in  the  original : 

I  cannot  for  the  stage  a  drama  lay 

Tragic  or  comic;   but  thou  writ'st  a  play. 

I  leave  thee  there,  and,  giving  way,  intend 

An  epic  poem;   thou  hast  the  same  end. 

I  modestly  quit  that,  and  think  to  write 

Next  morn  an  ode :    thou  mak'st  a  song  ere  night. 

I  pass  to  elegies :    thou  meet'st  me  there, 

To  satires;  and  thou  dost  pursue  me.     Where, 


62  MARTIAL    AND   THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Where  shall  I  'scape  thee?    in  an  epigram? 
O,  thou  cry'st  out,  that  is  my  proper  game. 

The  expression,  the  Attic  bird,  or  Attic  warbler  (Atihide),  has  been 
used  by  several  modern  poets,  though  it  may  be  difficult  to  say  posi- 
tively that  they  borrowed  it  from  Martial.  Thus  Dr  Newton,  in  his 
Notes  on  Milton's  Paradise  Regained,  refers  to  the  first  of  the  above 
epigrams  in  illustration  of  the  passage  on  the  "  olive  grove  of  Aca- 
deme :" 

Where  the  Attic  bird 

Trills  her  thick  warbled  notes. 

Martial  {Lib.  x.)  gives  a  plagiary  one  leg  of  the  runner  Lada, 
and  another  of  wood.  A  libeller  in  Martial's  name  is  noticed  by 
Jeremy  Taylor  for  his  conscience,  prodente  clamet  conscientid,  scripsi. 


XLIV. 

BOOKSELLERS. 


As  often  as  you  meet  me,  Lupercus,  you  immediately 
say,  "  May  I  send  my  slave-boy  that  you  may  give  him  your 
Book  of  Epigrams,  which  I  will  return  as  soon  as  I  have 
read  it."  I  answer,  There  is  no  occasion  to  put  your  boy 
to  so  much  trouble.  It  is  a  long  distance  to  come  to  my  part 
of  the  city,  and  I  live  up  three  pair  of  stairs,  and  those  high 
ones.  You  can  get  what  you  want  much  nearer.  You  often 
walk  into  Argiletum  (Paternoster  Row) :  you  will  find  there 
a  shop  opposite  Caesar's  Forum ;  its  door-posts,  from  top  to 
bottom,  are  covered  with  inscriptions,  from  which  you  may 
soon  learn  the  names  of  all  the  Poets  whose  works  are  for 
sale.  Seek  for  me  out  of  these :  you  need  not  ask  Atrectus 
(for  this  is  the  name  of  the  owner  of  the  shop)  if  he  can  find 
me.  He  will  hand  my  book  down  from  the  first  or  second 
nest  (nido),  bound  with  purple,  and  polished  with  pumice- 
stone,  for  the  price  of  five  denarii.  "You  are  not  worth 
so  much,"  quoth  Lupercus.  "You  speak  wisely,"  quoth  I. — 
Lib.  i.  Ep.  cxviii. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  63 

The  last  line  of  the  epigram  Tanti  non  es,  ais  ?  sapis,  Lwperce,  forms 
the  motto  of  the  445th  number  of  the  Spectator  by  Addison,  with  a 
version  : 

You  say,  Lupercus,  what  I  write 

I'n't  worth  so  much:    you're  in  the  right. 

This  use  of  Martial's  epigram  may  appear  ingenious ;  the  Paper 
containing  a  discussion  on  the  point  whether  the  Spectator  ought  to 
be  discontinued  in  consequence  of  the  new  stamp  to  be  imposed  on 
periodicals  on  the  next  day,  which  would  have  the  effect  of  raising 
its  price  from  a  penny  to  twopence.  Swift  mentions  as  the  effect  of 
the  stamp,  which  began  on  Aug.  1st,  1712,  "The  Observator  is  fallen, 
the  Medleys  are  jumbled  together  with  the  Flying-Post,  the  Examiner 
is  deadly  sick.  The  Spectator  keeps  up,  and  doubles  in  price."  The 
daily  circulation  of  the  Spectator  has  been  estimated  at  fourteen 
thousand ;  like  the  Tatler  and  Guardian  it  was  printed  on  a  single 
half-sheet,  and  upon  vile  paper. 

The  above  epigram  is  quoted  by  Roman  antiquarians  in  treating 
on  the  subjects  of  booksellers'  shops,  and  the  price  of  books,  as  in  the 
Excursus  of  Becker's  Gallus  on  the  Booksellers,  in  which  there  are 
nine  extracts  from  Martial,  besides  other  references  to  him.  Becker 
notices  that  the  book  of  Martial,  which  cost  five  denarii,  contained  a 
hundred  and  nineteen  epigrams ;  he  makes  his  Gallus  say,  as  suggested 
by  the  above  epigram,  "  I  do  not  much  desire  to  be  sold  in  the  Argi- 
letan  shops  for  five  denarii,  and  find  my  name  hung  up  on  the  doors, 
and  not  always  in  the  best  company." 


XLV. 

AUTHOR'S   PORTRAIT. 

How  small  a  skin  here  comprises  the  immense  Maro ! 
the  first  tablet  bears  his  portrait. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  clxxxvi. 

Upon  this  authority,  and  one  in  Seneca,  Becker  and  Dr  Smith 
state  it  to  have  been  the  practice,  among  the  Romans,  to  prefix  por- 
traits of  authors  to  books.  The  engraved  portrait  of  Shakspere  in  the 
first  edition  of  his  plays,  which  is  vouched  by  Ben  Jonson,  is  a  notable 


64  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

example  of  the  early  revival  of  this  practice  in  England.  Sir 
Matthew  Hale's  portrait  prefixed  to  his  works  represents  his  thumb, 
according  to  his  practice,  placed  in  his  girdle;  that  of  Paley  has  a 
fishing-rod.     Ben  Jonson  speaks  of  his  own  picture  as  exhibiting 

A  mountain  belly,  and  a  rocky  face. 


XLVI. 

SQUARE   MSS. 

Within  small  skins  is  compressed  the  enormous  work 
of  Livy,  which,  if  it  had  been  written  on  rolls,  my  bookcase 
(receptacle  for  rolls)  could  scarcely  have  contained. — Lib,  xiv. 
Ep.  cxc. 

A  writer  on  a  MS.  of  Aratus,  in  the  twenty-sixth  volume  of  the 
Archceologia  of  the  Antiquarian  Society,  observes  that  Shaurzius,  in 
his  work  Be  Ornamentis  Librorum,  is  of  opinion  that  Martial,  in  his 
epigrams,  headed  respectively,  u  Ovid,"  "  Homer,"  "  Cicero,"  and  others 
in  membranes,  is  speaking  of  square  manuscripts  of  those  authors,  and 
not  of  rolls.  The  author  of  the  Paper  thinks  it  probable  that  square 
manuscripts,  which,  before  Martial  lived,  had  been  rarely  used,  except 
for  books  of  account  and  registers,  began,  in  his  time,  to  come  much 
into  vogue.  He  observes  that  besides  rolled  manuscripts  being  written 
only  on  one  side,  their  shape,  and  the  looseness  with  which  they  were 
rolled,  necessarily  caused  them  to  occupy  much  more  space,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  matter  contained  in  them,  than  was  the  case  with 
square  manuscripts,  the  leaves  of  which,  besides  being  written  on  both 
sides,  were  compressed  into  the  smallest  compass  by  the  bookbinder. 

The  concluding  line  of  the  epigram, 

Quern  mea  vix  totum  bibliotheca  capit, 
may  appear  to  have  suggested  the  conclusion  of  one  of  the  mock  com- 
mendatory epigrams  prefixed  to  Coryat's  Crudities,  in  allusion  to  his 
having  travelled  to  Venice  and  back  with  one  pair  of  shoes,  which  is 
compared  to  Drake's  voyage  round  the  world  in  one  ship.  Drake, 
however,  published  only  one  volume ;  whereas,  says  the  Poet,  in 
Martial's  words,  a  bookcase  would  scarcely  hold  Coryat's  Travels. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  65 

Ad  Yenetos  venit  corio  Coryatus  ab  uno 
Yectus,  et,  ut  vectus,  pene  revectus  erat. 

Nave  una  Dracus  sic  totum  circuit  orbem, 
At  rediens  retulit  te,  Coryate,  minus. 

Illius  undivagos  tenet  unica  charta  labores, 
Tota  tuos  sed  vix  bibliotheca  capit. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  animadverting  on  the  "  infinite  number  of  cere- 
monies in  the  Romish  Church,"  writes,  "They  are  described  in  a  great 
book  in  folio,  quern  meet,  non  totum  hibliotheca  capit,  my  purse  will 
not  reach  to  buy  it." 


XLVII. 
EXPLICIT.     COKNTTA. 


You  send  back  my  book  unfolded  (explicitum)  to  its 
horns  (cornud),  and  as  if  you  had  read  it  through.  I  can 
believe  in  your  having  read  the  whole,  and  am  glad  of  it. 
Just  in  the  same  way,  I  have  read  through  five  of  your 
books.— Lib.  xi.  Ep.  cvm. 

The  word  explicit,  usually  placed  at  the  end  of  a  work  in  ancient 
Latin  MSS.,  is  not  classical  Latin,  but  is  supposed  to  be  an  abridg- 
ment of  the  word  explicitum,  for  the  use  of  which  antiquarians  refer 
to  the  first  line  of  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  and  to  a  line 
in  another  of  his  epigrams, 

Yersibus  explicitum  est  omne  duobus  opus. 
Many  of  the  mock  eulogies  prefixed  to  Coryat's  Crudities  conclude 
with  an  explicit.     Thus,   one  remarkable  for  being  written  by  the 
great  architect,  Inigo  Jones,  in  allusion  to  the  benefit  of  Clergy,  con- 
cludes thus  : 

This  book  who  scorns  to  buy,  or  on  it  look, 
May  he  at  Sessions  crave,  and  want  his  book  ! 

Explicit  Inigo  Jones. 
In  the  Medicean  MS.   of  Yirgil,   which  was  written  at  a  date 
that  none  have  placed  later  than  the  fourth  century,  there  is  inscribed 
at  the  end  of  the  Bucolics, 

MART.  F 


66  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

P.  Vergili  Maronis 

Bucolicon.     Liber  explicit. 

Incipit  Georgicon,  Lib.  i.     Feliciter. 

Becker,  in  his  Excursus  on  the  Books,  adverts  to  the  term  cornua, 
which,  he  notices,  is  used  by  Martial  only  in  this  place.  Martial 
seems,  in  the  epigram,  to  hint  at  a  jactitation  of  reading  through 
a  rolled  volume,  by  returning  it  completely  unrolled  to  its  umbilicus, 
of  which  the  cornua  were  the  knobs  or  handles. 


XLVIII. 
BOOK-SPONGE. 


Whilst  my  book  is  new,  and  its  edges  are  not  yet  cut 
even,  whilst  my  page  is  still  moist,  and  fears  to  be  touched, 
go,  boy,  and  carry  it  to  my  friend  Faustinus,  who  is  deserving 
of  the  first  sight  of  my  trifles.  Run,  but  properly  furnished ; 
let  an  African  sponge  accompany  the  book;  it  is  a  fitting 
appendage  to  my  gifts.  Many  effacings,  Faustinus,  cannot 
amend  my  jests,  one  effacing  can. — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  x. 

Becker  quotes  the  last  two  lines  of  this  epigram  as  illustrating 
the  practice  of  erasing  or  washing  out  the  whole  of  a  page,  and 
writing  again  on  the  same  paper,  which  was  called  palimpsestus.  It  is 
supposed  that  many  literary  treasures  have  been  effaced  in  order  that 
the  paper  might  be  converted  into  a  palimpsest.  The  following  pas- 
sages, in  which  Becker  describes  the  library  of  Gallus,  will  shew 
a  modern  use  of  Martial's  notices  of  Roman  books,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  explain  several  of  the  above  epigrams  : 

"  There,  in  presses  of  cedar- wood,  placed  round  the  walls,  lay  the 
rolls,  partly  of  parchment  and  partly  of  the  finest  Egyptian  papyrus, 
each  supplied  with  a  label,  on  which  was  seen  in  bright  red  letters 
the  name  of  the  author,  and  title  of  the  book." 

"  Other  literary  slaves  were  engaged  in  giving  the  rolls  the  most 
agreeable  exterior,  in  glueing  the  several  strips  of  papyrus  together,  in 


II.]  LITERATURE.  67 

smoothing  with  pumice-stone  and  blackening  the  edges,  drawing  red 
lines  which  divided  the  different  columns,  and  writing  the  title  in  the 
same  colour ;  fastening  ivory  tops  on  the  sticks  round  which  the  rolls 
were  wrapped,  and  dyeing  bright  red  or  yellow  the  parchment  which 
was  to  serve  as  a  wrapper." 


XLIX. 

WRITING-TABLETS. 


(I.) 
It  requires  good  eyes  to  peruse  what  is  written  with  a 
style  upon  dark-coloured  waxen  tablets ;   but  letters  written 
upon    white    ivory    are   read   with    the   greatest  facility. — 
Lib.  xiy.  Ep.  x. 

(ii.) 

Though  these  tablets  are  called  skins  (memhrana),  fancy 
them  wax ;  you  may  rub  out  what  is  previously  written  upon 
them,  and  write  again,  as  often  as  you  please. — Lib.  xiv. 
Ep.  vii. 

These  epigrams,  and  several  others  on  the  subject  of  twiting- 
tablets,  were  composed  for  the  purpose  of  accompanying  Saturnalian 
presents.  The  author  of  a  paper  in  the  26th  volume  of  the  Archoz- 
ologia  of  ilie  Antiquarian  Society,  on  the  subject  of  a  MS.  of  Aratus, 
has  discussed  the  subject  of  the  Roman  writing- tablets  (pugillares). 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  quotes  the  above  epigrams,  and 
notices  various  other  epigrams  of  Martial  on  pugillares  of  different 
sorts.  He  considers  that  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams  relates  to 
tablets  like  our  books  of  ass's- skin. 


P2 


68  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

L. 

SHORT-HAND. 

Though  words  are  fluent,  the  hand  outstrips  them  in 
speed;  the  tongue  has  not  finished  its  work,  the  hand's 
work  is  done. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  ccvm. 

The  distich  which  expresses  the  above  epigram  is  used  by  Mel- 
moth  to  illustrate  a  passage  in  Pliny's  Letters,  wherein  it  is  men- 
tioned that  the  elder  Pliny  was  constantly  attended  in  his  chariot 
by  a  short-hand  writer  (notarizes),  who,  in  winter,  wore  a  particular 
sort  of  warm  gloves,  in  order  that  the  sharpness  of  the  weather  might 
not  occasion  any  interruption  of  his  occupation.  Melmoth  gives  the 
following  version  of  Martial's  epigram  : 

Swift  tho'  the  words,  the  pen  still  swifter  sped, 
The  hand  has  finish'd,  ere  the  tongue  has  said. 


LI. 

MARTIAL. 


I  confess,  Callistratus,  that  I  am  and  always  was  poor, 
though  not  an  obscure  nor  unfavourably  known  knight 
{Nee  male  notus  eques).  I  am  frequently  read  throughout 
the  whole  world,  and  people  point  at  me,  saying,  "That  is 
He."  The  boon  which  ashes  give,  and  that  only  to  a  few, 
has  been  conferred  upon  me  whilst  alive.  Your  roofs,  how- 
ever, rest  on  a  hundred  columns,  and  your  wealth  is  such 
a  libertine  as  scarcely  to  be  confined  by  any  chest.  An 
extensive  farm  at  Syene  on  the  Nile  is  subservient  to  you, 
and  Gallic  Parma  shears  your  innumerable  flocks.  Look  on 
the  picture  of  what  I  am,  and  on  that  of  what  you  are; 
only  bear  this  in  mind,  that  you  cannot  become  what  I  am, 
whilst  any  one  of  the  populace  may  become  like  you. — 
Lib.  v.  Ep.  xiii. 


II.]  LITERATURE.  69 

The  motto  of  the  arms  belonging  to  the  Viscounts  Southwell 
is  taken  from  the  above  epigram,  viz.  Nee  male  notus  eques.  Mar- 
tial's concluding  sentiment  has  been  expressed  on  several  remarkable 
occasions,  and  in  some  well-known  poems,  though  it  may  appear  too 
fanciful  to  connect  such  instances  with  his  epigram.  Charles  V.  told 
his  Court  that  he  could  make  as  many  courtiers  as  he  pleased,  but 
that  he  could  not  make  a  Titian ;  and  Burns, 

A  Prince  can  make  a  belted  Knight, 

A  Marquis,  Duke,   and  a'  that, 
But  an  honest  man's  aboon  his  might, 
Guid  faith  he  munna  fa'  that. 


LIL 

QUINTILIAN. 


Quintilian,  of  the  guides  of  unstable  youth  the  chief; 
the  glory  of  the  Roman  toga!  Pardon  me,  that  poor  as  I 
am,  and  not  of  an  age  past  enjoyment,  I  hasten  to  live. 
No  one  hastens  enough  to  live.  Let  that  man  put  off  the 
time  for  living,  whose  aim  is  to  increase  his  hereditary 
wealth,  and  who  crowds  his  atria  with  images  in  excessive 
number.  My  delight  is  my  fireside,  and  a  house  that  is 
not  spoiled  with  a  little  smoke,  and  a  running  stream,  and 
natural  turf.  May  I  have  a  well-fed  slave,  a  wife  not  too 
learned,  nights  with  sleep,  days  without  a  lawsuit. — Lib.  n. 
Ep.  xc. 

This  epigram  is  translated,  or  rather  paraphrased,  by  Cowley  : 

Wonder  not,  Sir,  (you  who  instruct  the  town 
In  the  true  wisdom  of  the  sacred  gown,) 
That  I  make  haste  to  live,  and  cannot  hold 
Patiently  out  till  I  grow  rich  and  old. 
Life  for  delays  and  doubts  no  time  does  give, 
None  ever  yet  made  haste  enough  to  live. 


70  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [cH. 

Let  him  defer  it  whose  prepost'rous  care 

Omits  himself,  and  reaches  to  his  heir, 

Who  does  his  father's  bounded  stores  despise, 

And  whom  his  own  too  never  can  suffice. 

My  humble  thoughts  no  glittering  roofs  require, 

Or  rooms  that  shine  with  ought  but  constant  fire. 

I  will  content  the  avarice  of  my  sight 

With  the  fair  gildings  of  reflected  light. 

Pleasures  abroad  the  sport  of  nature  yields, 

Her  living  fountains,  and  her  smiling  fields ; 

And,  then,  at  home,  what  pleasure  is't  to  see, 

A  little  cleanly  cheerful  family; 

Which  if  a  chaste  wife  crown,  no  less  in  her 

Than  fortune,  I  the  golden  mean  prefer; 

Too  noble,  nor  too  wise,  she  should  not  be ; 

No,  nor  too  rich,  too  fair,  too  fond  of  me; 

Thus  let  my  life  slide  silently  away 

With  sleep  all  night,  and  quiet  all  the  day. 

Two  lines  of  the  above  epigram  are  used  for  the  motto  of  the 
71st  number  of  the  Rambler,  with  this  version : 

True,  Sir,  to  live  I  haste,  your  pardon  give, 
For,  tell  me,  who  makes  haste  enough  to  live? 

In  the  course  of  this  Paper  Dr  Johnson  relates,  that  when  Baxter 
had  lost  a  thousand  pounds,  which  he  had  laid  up  for  the  erection  of 
a  school,  he  used  frequently  to  instance  the  misfortune  as  an  excite- 
ment to  be  charitable  while  God  gives  us  the  power  of  bestowing ; 
and  he  considered  himself  as  culpable  in  some  degree  in  having  left  a 
good  action  in  the  hands  of  chance,  and  suffered  his  benevolence  to  be 
defeated  for  want  of  quickness  and  diligence. 

Dr  Johnson  further  mentions,  in  reference  to  Martial's  sentiment, 
"  that  it  was  lamented  by  Hearne,  the  antiquary,  that  a  general  for- 
getfulness  of  the  fragility  of  life  had  remarkably  infected  the  students 
of  monuments  and  records.  As  their  employment  consists  first  in 
collecting,  and,  afterwards,  in  arranging  or  abstracting  what  libraries 
afford  them,  they  ought  to  amass  no  more  than  they  can  digest : 
but  when  they  have  undertaken  a  work,  they  go  on  searching  and 
transcribing,  call  for  new  supplies  when  they  are  already  overbur- 
thened,  and,  at  last,  leave  their  work  unfinished.     'It  is,'  says  he, 


II.]  LITERATURE.  71 

'  the  part  of  a  good  antiquary,  as  of  a  good  man,  to  have  mortality 
always  before  him.' " 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Sermon  on  Death-bed  Repentance,  quotes  four 
lines  from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  viz. 

Yivere  quod  propero  pauper,  nee  inutilis  annis, 

Da  veniam :  properat  vivere  nemo  satis. 
Differat  hoc,  patrios  optat  qui  vincere  census, 
Atriaque  immodicis  arctat  imaginibus. 
After  enumerating,  in  this  sermon,  the  various  duties  which  a 
man  cannot  perform  if  he  has  not  hastened  to  perform  them  at  the 
proper  time,  Jeremy  Taylor  allows  that  a  sinner,  on  his  death-bed, 
"can  pray,  and  groan,  and  call  to  God,  and  resolve  to  live  well  when 
he  is  dying." 

With  regard  to  Images  in  the  Atria,  Becker  introduces  Gallus's 
servants  busy  in  his  atrium  about  decking  with  fresh  garlands  the 
busts  and  shields  which  supplied  the  place  of  the  imagines,  or  waxen 
masks  of  departed  ancestors ;  he  calls  the  placing  of  images  of  an- 
cestors in  the  atrium  a  beautiful  custom  :  Juvenal  writes, 
Tota  licet  veteres  exornent  undique  cerce 
Atria,  nobilitas  sola  est,  atque  unica  virtus. 


LIIL 

JUVENAL, 


You  strive  to  involve  me  in  a  quarrel  with  my  friend 
Juvenal;  what  wilt  not  thou,  0  perfidious  tongue,  dare  to 
utter?  By  your  mischievous  fictions,  Orestes  would  have 
hated  Pylades,  and  the  love  of  Pirithous  would  have  been 
withdrawn  from  Theseus.  You  would  have  disunited  the 
Sicilian  brothers,  and  the  Atridse  (Agamemnon  and  Menelaus) 
of  greater  fame,  and  the  sons  of  Leda  (Castor  and  Pollux). 
I  imprecate  on  yourself  the  punishment  of  being  for  ever 
addicted  to  vile  practices,  in  retribution  for  such  darings 
{pro  talibus  ansis). — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xxiii. 


72  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Edwards,  in  his  Medallic  History,  gives  the  representations  of 
two  medals  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  which  he  designates  as 
"honorary  medals  struck  to  be  presented  to  naval  officers  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  an  engagement."  He  describes  the 
medals  thus:  "The  King's  head  and  titles.  Reverse,  a  fleet  en- 
gaged, the  King  on  shore  giving  command.  Pro  talibus  amis.  '  For 
such  attempts.' "  In  the  correspondence  of  Pepys,  there  is  a  letter 
from  a  Mr  Slingsby,  offering  Pepys  to  sell  him  some  medals  by 
Monsieur  Roetter,  according  to  a  list.  In  the  list,  ~No.  8,  is  "The 
King  for  the  Fyre  ships,  with  Pro  talibus  ausis,  £1.  19s.;"  No.  15  is 
a  similar  medal,  price  £1.  8s. 

The  Reverses  in  the  two  medals  of  which  copies  are  given  by 
Edwards  slightly  differ,  but  in  each  there  is  a  ship  on  fire,  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  attracted  Edwards's  notice,  and  which  is, 
most  probably,  the  daring  exploit  alluded  to  in  the  mottoes. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Sermon  on  Slander,  makes  a  quotation  from 
the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  observing  that  "the  dearest  friendships 
in  the  world  cannot  be  secure,  where  such  whisperers  are  attended 
to ;"  and,  with  reference  to  the  line,  "  Quid  non  audebis,  perfida 
lingua,  loqui  ? "  he  says  that  false  accusation  is  a  "  direct  murder  of 
the  tongue." 


LIV. 
CATULLUS' S   SPARROW. 

Silius,  the  glory  of  the  Castalian  sisters,  who  in  lofty 
style  expressest  the  perjuries  of  barbaric  rage,  and  the 
perfidy  of  the  proud  Hannibal,  and  who  compellest  the  fickle 
Carthaginians  to  yield  to  the  two  great  Africani,  lay  aside, 
for  a  while,  the  severity  of  your  studies,  and  give  yourself 
leisure  suited  to  my  Muse.  Now  Decembers  holidays  are 
noisy  with  the  rotatory  rattling  of  dice  in  their  chanceful 
boxes.  Do  not,  at  this  season,  read  with  a  stern  look,  but 
with  benignity,  my  little  poems  on  jocular  themes.    Probably 


II.]  LITERATURE.  73 

in  this  same  manner,  the  weaker  Catullus  may  have  sent 
his  Sparrow  to  the  great  Virgil. — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  xiv. 

The  above  epigram  has  been  cited  to  show  that  the  writings  of 
Catullus  were  contemporary  with  those  of  Virgil;  whereas  most 
writers  assert  that  Catullus  died  when  Virgil  was  yet  a  youth,  and 
was  pursuing  his  studies  at  Cremona.  The  question  is  considered  by 
Lamb  in  the  Preface  to  his  translation  of  Catullus.  It  would  seem 
that  Martial  had  been  less  attentive  to  chronology  than  anxious  to 
make  up  the  terms  of  a  proportion  as  Silius  to  Virgil,  so  himself  to 
Catullus;  the  former  comparison  being  the  most  acceptable  compli- 
ment that  could  be  paid  to  Silius,  and  the  latter  expressing  the  sum- 
mit of  his  own  aspirations. 

George  Lamb  thus  renders  the  above  epigram  of  Martial: 

Oh,  thou,  whose  strains  in  loftiest  style 
(Oh,  Silius,  glory  of  the  Nine !) 

Tell  barbarous  warfare's  varied  wile, 
Hannibal's  ever  new  design; 

And  paint  the  Scipios  in  the  field, 

Where  Carthage  false  was  forc'd  to  yield. 

Awhile  your  grandeur  put  away, 
December  now,  with  rattling  dice 

Cast  from  the  doubtful  box,  is  gay; 
And  Popa  plies  his  false  device; 

'Tis  now  an  easy  festive  time 

That  well  befits  my  careless  rhyme. 

Then  smooth  your  frowns;  with  placid  brow 
Read,  pr'ythee,  these  my  trifling  lays, 

My  lays  where  wanton  jests  o'erflow; 
For  thus,  perchance,  his  sparrow's  praise, 

Catullus,  whom  sweet  strains  attend, 

To  mighty  Maro  dar'd  to  send. 

Antiquarians  have  adverted  to  this  epigram  in  treating  of  the 
festival  of  the  Saturnalia  and  of  the  social  games  of  the  Romans.  The 
Delphi  n  editors  term  perobscurum  the  passage,  Et  ludit  rota  nequiore 
talo.  Becker  renders  nequiore  talo,  loaded  dice.  George  Lamb's 
Popa  is  the  keeper  of  a  popina. 


74  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  •    [CH. 


LV. 

VIRGIL'S   TOMB. 

(I.) 
Silius  (Italicus)  celebrates  funeral  obsequies  at  Maro's 
tomb,  and  is  the  possessor  of  Cicero's  domain  (the  Academy). 
Surely  neither  Maro  nor  Cicero  would  have  preferred  any 
individual  now  alive  to  be  the  heir  and  guardian  of  his 
sepulchre  and  lares. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xlix. 

(ii.) 

A  solitary  poor  man  was,  for  a  long  time,  the  only 
resident  near  the  deserted  ashes  of  Maro,  who  might  pay 
honour  to  his  sacred  name.  Silius  came  to  the  rescue  of 
Maro's  estate,  which  now,  as  formerly,  is  subject  to  the 
dominion  of  a  Poet. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  li. 

The  above  epigrams  have  been  pressed  into  the  controversy  con- 
cerning the  site  of  Yirgil's  tomb.  Cluverius,  who  is  followed  by 
Addison,  chiefly  on  the  authority  of  a  passage  in  Statius  of  doubtful 
interpretation,  argues  that  Yirgil's  tomb  was  at  the  foot  of  Vesuvius. 
With  reference  to  the  above  epigrams  Eustace  writes,  "As  for  the 
two  epigrams  of  Martial  quoted  by  Cluverius,  they  only  seem  to  in- 
sinuate that  Silius  Italicus  was  proprietor  both  of  the  tomb  of  Virgil 
and  of  the  villa  of  Cicero,  a  circumstance  rather  favourable  than 
contrary  to  the  common  opinion  concerning  the  site  of  Virgil's  tomb : 
for  we  know  that  Cicero's  villa  lay  on  the  same  side  of  Naples  as 
Posilipo,  and  as  Virgil's  tomb  belonged  to  the  same  master  as  the 
villa,  it  may  be  supposed  that  they  were  not  very  far  distant  from 
each  other." 

Concerning  the  latter  of  the  above  epigrams,  Eustace  writes,  in 
his  Classical  Tour,  "  The  sepulchre  of  Virgil,  it  might  be  imagined, 
would  have  long  remained  an  object  of  interest  and  veneration,  espe- 
cially as  his  works  had  excited  universal  admiration  even  in  his 
lifetime,  and  were  very  soon  after  his  death  put  into  the  hands  of 
children,  and,  according  to  Quintilian,  made,  with  Homer,  part  of 


II.]        •  LITERATURE.  75 

the  rudiments  of  early  education  at  Rome.  Yet  Martial  declares 
that  the  tomb  had  been  neglected  in  his  time,  and  that  Silius  Italicus 
alone  restored  its  long-forgotten  honours : 

To  honour  Maro's  dust,  and  sacred  shade, 
One  swain  remained,  deserted,  poor,  alone. 

Till  Silius  came  his  pious  toils  to  aid, 

In  homage  to  a  name  scarce  greater  than  his  own. 

This  negligence  in  an  age  of  so  much  refinement  cannot  but  appear 
astonishing,  even  though  we  are  informed  that  the  same  age  had 
been  terrified  by  the  cruelties  of  four  successive  tyrants,  and  dis- 
tracted by  two  most  destructive  wars  raging  in  the  very  heart  of 
Italy."  These  epigrams  illustrate  a  letter  of  Pliny,  in  which  he 
relates  the  suicide  of  Silius,  and  particulars  of  his  life. 

The  circumstances  of  the  poet  Sannazarius  being  buried  near 
Yirgil's  tomb,  and  Spenser  near  that  of  Chaucer,  are  noticed  in  their 
epitaphs,  which  may  possibly  have  been  suggested  by  Martial's  lines 
on  the  poet  Silius  in  connexion  with  Virgil's  tomb;  the  epitaph  on 
Sannazarius  {Sincerus)  being : 

Da  sacro  cineri  flores,  hie  ille  Maronis 
Sincerus,  musa  proximus,  et  tumulo. 

And  that  on  Spenser,  which  is  apparently  borrowed  from  the  pre- 
ceding : 

Hie,  prope  Chaucerum,  situs  est  Spenserius,  illi 
Proximus  ingenio,  proximus  et  tumulo. 


LVI. 

SILIUS   ITALICUS. 


Whosoever  will  read  the  imperishable  volumes  of  the 
immortal  Silius,  and  his  verses  worthy  of  the  Roman  toga, 
must  surely  suppose  that  he  had  given  his  whole  mind 
to  the  Pierian  recesses,  to  the  chaplets  which  the  Aonian 
Muses   wear   after   the  fashion   of  Bacchus.    Nevertheless, 


76  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  ■     [CH. 

he  did  not  attain  to  the  sacred  poesy  of  the  tragic  Virgil, 
until  he  had  maturely  studied  the  whole  works  of  Cicero. 
Him  the  Centumviri  at  their  tribunal  still  admire,  and  many 
a  client  speaks  of  him  with  a  grateful  tongue.  After  he 
had  held  office  with  twelve  consular  fasces,  during  the 
memorable  year  when  the  world's  liberty  was  vindicated 
by  Nero's  downfall,  he  dedicated  the  remaining  years  of 
his  life,  like  those  of  a  gladiator  who  has  received  his  rudis 
of  honourable  discharge,  to  Phcebus  and  the  Muses ;  he  now 
cultivates  Helicon  instead  of  his  wonted  Forum. — Lib.  vn. 
Ep.  lxii. 

In  a  dedication  by  Dryden,  addressed  to  the  Duke  of  Northum- 
berland, he  writes,  "  I  regard  you  as  another  Silius  Italicus,  who, 
having  passed  over  his  consulship  with  applause,  dismissed  himself 
from  business  and  from  the  gown,  and  employed  his  age  among  the 
shades  in  the  readimg  and  imitation  of  Virgil : 

Emeritos  Musis  et  Phcebo  tradidit  annos." 


LVIL 
PLINY. 

Go,  my  Thalia,  take  to  the  eloquent  Pliny  my  little 
book;  it  is  scarcely  learned  nor  grave  enough,  but  it  is 
not  chargeable  with  rusticity.  It  is  no  long  labour  to  mount 
the  steep  street  of  the  Subura ;  when  this  is  done,  you  will 
immediately  behold  the  statue  of  Orpheus,  at  the  top  of  a 
theatre  wet  from  being  sprinkled  with  perfumed  showers; 
the  wild  beasts  stand  around,  along  with  the  eagle  of  Jove, 
wondering  at  his  music.  The  next  object  is  the  house  of 
your  poet  Pedo,  on  the  top  of  which  is  sculptured  an  eagle 
with  a  smaller  pinion.    But  beware,  and  do  not  strike  at 


II.]        •  LITERATURE.  77 

Pliny's  learned  door,  like  to  one  intoxicated,  at  your  own 
time.  He  gives  his  whole  days  to  abstruse  Minerva,  whilst 
he  plans  for  the  ears  of  the  Centumviri  what  both  this 
age  and  posterity  may  compare  with  the  orations  of  Cicero. 
You  will  go  more  safely  at  the  time  of  the  lights.  This 
is  your  hour,  when  Bacchus  rages,  when  the  rose  reigns, 
when  the  hair  is  moistened  with  perfume.  At  such  a  season 
rigid  Catos  may  read  me. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xix. 

Pliny  mentions  this  epigram  in  a  letter  in  which  he  expresses  his 
sorrow  at  the  news  of  Martial's  death;  of  whom  he  observes  that 
"  Erat  homo  ingeniosus,  acutus,  acer,  et  qui  plurimum  in  scribendo 
et  salis  haberet  et  fellis,  nee  candoris  minus."  He  quotes  from 
memory  the  ten  concluding  lines  of  the  above  epigram,  which 
Melmoth  has  thus  translated: 

Go,  wanton  Muse!  but  go  with  care, 
Nor  meet  ill-timed  my  Pliny's  ear; 
He  by  sage  Minerva  taught, 
Gives  the  day  to  studious  thought, 
And  plans  that  eloquence  divine, 
"Which  shall  to  future  ages  shine, 
And  rival,  wondrous  Tully!  thine. 
Then,  cautious  watch  the  vacant  hour 
When  Bacchus  reigns  in  all  his  power; 
When  crown'd  with  many  chaplets  gay, 
E'en  rigid  Catos  read  my  lay. 

Pliny  mentions,  that  when  Martial  left  Pome  on  his  return  to 
Spain,  he  defrayed  the  expenses  of  the  poet's  journey,  not  only  as  a 
testimony  of  his  friendship,  but  in  return  for  the  verses  with  which 
he  had  been  complimented. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Discourse  on  the  House  of  Feasting,  quotes 
from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  the  lines  : 

Seras  tutior  ibis  ad  lacernas, 

Hsec  hora  est  tua,  cum  furit  Lyaeus, 

Cum  regnat  rosa,  cum  madent  capilli. 

With  regard  to  which  he  observes,  that  "  all  the  time  of  life  is  lost, 


78  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH.  II.] 

when  wine,  and  rage,  and  pleasure  and  folly  steal  away  the  heart  of 
a  man,  and  make  him  go  singing  to  his  grave." 

Ben  Jonson  concludes  the  dedication  to  the  Inns  of  Court  of  his 
Play  called  Every  Man  out  of  his  Humour,  thus,  in  apparent  imi- 
tation of  Martial's  epigram:  "Yet  I  command  it  not  to  lie  in  the 
way  of  your  most  noble  and  useful  studies  to  the  public.  But  when 
the  gown  and  cap  is  off,  and  the  lord  of  liberty  reigns,  then  to  take  it 
in  your  hands,  may,  perhaps,  make  some  bencher^  tinctured  with 
humanity,  read  and  not  repent  him."  The  festivities  of  the  Inns  of 
Court,  particularly  described  in  Dugdale's  Origines  Juridiciales,  are 
here  alluded  to,  the  reign  of  the  Hose  being  supplied  by  the  reign  of 
the  Lord  of  Misrule,  and  ancient  Cato,  in  his  convivial  moods,  by 
a  Bencher. 


CHAPTER  III. 
GENERAL    LIFE. 


Martial's  epigrams  upon  the  subject  of  the  present 
Chapter  have  been  in  particular  request  by  modern  writers, 
owing  to  their  being  applicable  to  all  times  and  nations. 
This  is  not  the  less  the  case  with  regard  to  those  epigrams 
which  relate  to  the  habits  or  manners  of  specified  individuals, 
where,  under  their  names,  a  general  virtue,  or  vice,  or  foible 
is  pointed  at.  The  commencing  epigrams  in  this  Chapter 
describe  the  ways  by  which  human  happmess  may  be  secured 
or  frustrated.  If  it  be  objected  that  their  tendency  is 
Epicurean,  as  countenancing  the  maxim,  that  we  ought  to 
live  to-day  for  to-morrow  we  die,  it  may  be  answered  that 
modern  divines  and  moralists  have  not  on  that  account 
turned  aside  from  them;  but,  in  substituting  the  motive  of 
eternal  for  that  of  temporary  happiness,  have  largely  availed 
themselves  of  Martial's  reflections  in  support  of  Christian 
doctrines,  and  have  wielded  in  a  sacred  cause  the  inimita- 
ble terseness  and  neatness  of  Martial's  poetry.  Moreover, 
independently  of  the  reigning  object  of  the  epigrams  in 
question,  they  will  be  found  to  contain  many  judicious 
remarks  on  the  nature  of  the  employments,  and  the  direction 
of  the  abilities  of  mankind,  and  on  a  sensible  enjoyment  of 
the  objects  of  pleasure  with  which  Providence  has  enlivened 
our  existence. 

Besides  schemes  for  the  conduct  of  life,  the  present 
Chapter  contains  numerous  epigrams,  founded  on  the  inti- 


80  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

mate  relations  of  society,  and  on  occurrences  that  arise  out 
of  the  social  intercourse  of  a  large  community,  and  which 
are  not  merely  the  result  of  national  and  temporary  con- 
ventionalities. The  Chapter  is  concluded  with  a  few  epi- 
taphs and  elegies,  a  subject  in  which  it  is  the  lot  of  humanity 
to  feel  a  perpetual  interest.  It  is  conceived  that  enough 
will  appear  in  the  pages  of  this  Chapter  in  particular  to 
justify  amply  the  praise  which  Martial  arrogates  for  his 
book,  that  it  savours  of  mankind,  Jiominem  pagina  nostra 
sapit. 


LVIII. 

A   HAPPY   LIFE. 


The  requisites  for  a  happy  life  are  the  following :  com- 
petency inherited  and  not  acquired  by  labour;  productive  land, 
a  hearth  which  never  lacks  a  fire  (focus  perennis) ;  total  ab- 
sence of  litigation ;  rare  occasion  for  the  toga  (the  garb  of  busi- 
ness); a  quiet  mind;  unimpaired  physical  vigour;  health  of 
body;  prudent  simplicity;  friends  that  are,  in  all  respects,  your 
equals;  familiar  society;  a  table  devoid  of  art;  nights,  not 
of  revelling,  but  of  freedom  from  cares ;  a  couch  not  sad  nor 
licentious;  sleep,  which  curtails  the  time  of  darkness;  to 
be  exactly  what  you  wish  to  be;  preferring  no  other  con- 
dition to  your  own;  neither  to  dread  nor  to  long  for  your 
last  hour. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xlvii. 

The  above  epigram  has  been  thus  translated  by  Cowley: 

Since,  dearest  Friend!  'tis  your  desire  to  see 
A  true  receipt  of  happiness  from  me, 
These  are  the  chief  ingredients,  if  not  all : 
Take  an  estate  neither  too  great,  nor  small, 
Which  quantum  sufficit,  the  doctors  call. 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  81 

Let  this  estate  from  parents'  care  descend; 

The  getting  it  too  much  of  life  doth  spend. 

Take  such  a  ground  whose  gratitude  may  be 

A  fair  encouragement  for  industry. 

Let  constant  fires  the  winter's  fury  tame, 

And  let  thy  kitchen  be  a  vestal  flame. 

Thee  to  the  town  let  never  suit  at  law, 

And  rarely,  very  rarely,  business  draw. 

Thy  active  mind  in  equal  temper  keep, 

In  undisturbed  peace,  yet  not  in  sleep. 

Let  exercise  a  vigorous  health  maintain, 

Without  which  all  the  composition's  vain; 

In  the  same  weight  prudence  and  innocence  take; 

Ana  of  each  does  the  just  mixture  make. 

But  a  few  friendships  wear,  and  let  them  be 

By  nature  and  by  fortune  fit  for  thee; 

Instead  of  art  and  luxury  in  food, 

Let  mirth  and  freedom  make  thy  table  good. 

If  any  cares  into  thy  daytime  creep, 

At  night,  without  wine's  opium,  let  them  sleep. 

Let  rest,  which  nature  does  to  darkness  wed, 

And  not  lust,  recommend  to  thee  thy  bed. 

Be  satisfied  and  pleas'd  with  what  thou  art: 

Act  cheerfully  and  well  th'  allotted  part, 

Enjoy  the  present  hour,  be  thankful  for  the  past, 

And  neither  fear  nor  wish  th'  approaches  of  the  last. 

In  Fenton's  translation  of  the  same  epigram,  the  following  lines 
may  deserve  notice: 

Pleas'd  always  with  the  lot  my  fates  assign, 
Let  me  no  change  desire,  no  change  decline; 
With  every  turn  of  Providence  comply, 
Not  tir'd  with  life,  nor  yet  afraid  to  die. 

Somerville,  the  author  of  the  Chase,  has  translated  the  above 
epigram.     His  concluding  lines  are: 

Pleas'd  with  thy  present  lot,  not  grudging  at  the  past, 

Nor  fearing  when  thy  time  shall  come,  nor  hoping  for  thy  last. 

MART.  G 


82  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Hamilton  (Anderson's  English  Poets)  in  a  poem  called  the 
Wish,  concludes: 

Such  in  some  blest  asylum  let  me  lie, 

Take  off  my  fill  of  life,  and  wait,  not  wish,  to  die. 

The  preference  given  by  Martial  to  inherited  over  acquired  pos- 
sessions is  impugned  by  Mr  Sharpe,  in  his  Essays.  Lord  Bacon,  in 
his  Colours  of  Good  and  Evil,  canvasses  this  very  point,  assigning 
four  colours  for  the  position  that  what  is  obtained  by  labour  and 
virtue  is  a  greater  good  than  what  comes  by  favour  and  fortune,  and 
four  counter-colours  in  support  of  Martial's  opinion. 

In  the  203rd  number  of  the  Rambler,  Dr  Johnson  observes, 
"  Among  Martial's  requisites  to  happiness  is  Res  non  parta  labore,  sed 
relicta  (an  estate  not  gained  by  industry,  but  left  by  inheritance).  It 
is  necessary  to  the  completion  of  every  good,  that  it  be  timely  ob- 
tained; for,  whatever  comes  at  the  close  of  life  will  come  too  late 
to  give  much  delight.  Yet  all  human  happiness  has  its  defects;  of 
what  we  do  not  gain  for  ourselves  we  have  only  a  faint  and  imperfect 
fruition,  because  we  cannot  compare  the  difference  between  want  and 
possession,  or,  at  least,  can  derive  from  it  no  conviction  of  our  own 
abilities,  nor  any  increase  of  self-esteem;  still,  what  we  acquire  by 
bravery  or  science,  by  mental  or  corporal  diligence,  comes  at  last 
when  we  cannot  communicate,  and  therefore  cannot  enjoy  it." 

Dryden,  in  the  dedication  of  his  translation  of  the  Georgics  to  the 
Earl  of  Chesterfield,  writes,  uRes  non  parta  labore,  sed  relicta,  was 
thought  by  the  poet  to  be  one  of  the  requisites  to  a  happy  life.  Why 
should  a  reasonable  man  put  it  into  the  power  of  Fortune  to  make 
him  miserable,  when  his  ancestors  have  taken  care  to  release  him 
from  her1?  He  who  is  born  to  a  pleasant  estate,  and  is  ambitious  of 
offices  at  court,  sets  a  stake  to  Fortune.  You,  my  lord,  enjoy  your 
quiet  in  a  garden,  where  you  have  not  only  the  leisure  of  thinking, 
but  the  pleasure  to  think  of  nothing  which  can  discompose  your 
mind." 

With  regard  to  Martial's  focus  perennis,  or,  as  Cowley  renders  it, 
Vestal  kitchen  fire,  it  may  be  noticed  that  Ben  Jonson,  after  a  spe- 
cification of  twenty-four  Leges  Convivales  (Table-laws)  which  he  had 
inscribed  over  the  chimney-piece  of  his  club-room  called  the  Apollo, 
in  the  Old  Devil  Tavern,  at  Temple-bar  (now  Child's  banking-house), 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  83 

has  a  conclusion  which  would  appear  to  be  applicable  to  all  his  rules, 
viz.  Focus  perennis  esto  (let  a  fire  be  always  kept  lighted). 

On  the  requisite  of  prudent  simplicity,  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  sermon 
on  Christian  simplicity,  writes,  "  Prudens  simplicitas  is  Martial's  cha- 
racter of  a  good  man  ;  a  wary  and  cautious  innocence.  A  true  sim- 
plicity is  that  which  leaves  to  a  man  arms  defensive,  his  castles  and 
strong  forts,  but  takes  away  his  swords  and  spears,  his  anger  and  his 
malice,  his  peevishness  and  spite."  After  referring  to  the  exhortation 
in  St  Matthew  (x.  16)  upon  this  subject,  he  observes  that  "we  do  not 
live  in  an  age  in  which  there  is  so  much  need  to  bid  men  be  wary,  as 
to  take  care  that  they  are  innocent." 

The  item  JSfox  non  ebria,  sed  soluta  curis,  is  quoted  by  Warton  in 
illustration  of  the  passage  in  Milton's  sonnet : 

To-day  deep  thoughts  resolve  with  me  to  drench, 
In  mirth  that  after  no  repenting  draws. 

The  motto  of  the  9th  number  of  the  Rambler  is  Martial's  Quod  sis 
esse  velis,  nihilque  malis,  of  which  a  version  is  given, 

Chuse  what  you  are,  no  other  state  prefer. 

In  this  number  Dr  Johnson  treats  of  the  rivalry  of  different  profes- 
sions, and  the  tendency  to  depreciate  members  of  a  different  profes- 
sion from  our  own;  he  points  out  the  good  and  bad  effects  of  an 
esprit  de  corps. 

Montaigne,  in  an  essay  entitled  De  V Experience,  observes,  in  old 
French,  "  Je  voudroy  a  ce  mestier  un  homme  content  de  sa  fortune, 

Quid  sit  esse  velit,  nihilque  mafoV 

And  he  would  extend  the  principle  to  contentment  with  the  form 
of  government  under  which  any  person  is  born. 

Ayme  l'estat  tel  que  tu  le  vois  estre, 
S'il  est  royal,  ayme  la  royaute, 
S'il  est  de  peu,  ou  bien  communaute, 
Ayme  l'aussi  :  car  Dieu  t'y  a  fait  naistre. 

The  concluding  line  of  the  epigram,  "  Summum  nee  metuas  diem, 
nee  optes,"  is  curious  in  regard  to  its  modern  use,  if,  as  commentators 
generally  suppose,  it  suggested  some  thoughts  and  expressions  to 
Milton,  in  his  Paradise  Lost,  where  he  relates  a  conversation  between 
the  Archangel  Michael  and  Adam,  who  says, 

G2 


84  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Henceforth  I  fly  not  death,  nor  would  prolong 
Life  much;  bent  rather,  how  I  may  be  quit 
Fairest  and  easiest  of  this  cumbrous  charge, 
Which  I  must  keep  till  my  appointed  day 
Of  rendering  up,  and  patiently  attend 
My  dissolution.     Michael  replied, 

Nor  love  thy  life,  nor  hate;  but  what  thou  liv'st 
Live  well;  how  long,  or  short,  permit  to  Heaven. 
The  French  poet,  Maynard,  on  his  retirement  from  Paris  into  the 
provinces,  in  his  old  age,  inscribed  over  the  door  of  his  library, 
Las  d'esperer,  et  de  me  plaindre 
Des  Muses,  des  Grands,  et  du  sort, 
C'est  ici  que  l'attends  la  mort, 
Sans  la  desirer,  ni  la  craindre. 
In  a  very  early  translation  of  the  epigram  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey, 
the  last  line  is  rendered,  "  Ne  wish  for  death,  ne  fear  his  might."  Nee 
upias,  nee  metuas,  is  the  motto  of  the  Earls  of  Hardwicke. 


LIX. 

ROAD  TO  HAPPINESS. 

If,  dear  Martialis !  you  and  I  could  enjoy  together  days 
free  from  care,  and  could  dispose  at  will  of  our  leisure  hours, 
and  could  be  at  liberty  to  indulge  in  what  is  really  life, 
we  should  know  nothing  of  the  atria  (saloons  where  salu- 
tations were  made),  or  any  other  part  of  the  houses  of  the 
powerful,  nor  of  vexatious  lawsuits,  nor  of  the  sad  Forum, 
nor  of  proud  images  of  our  ancestors.  But,  instead,  Ave 
should  be  carried  in  our  litters,  we  should  listen  to  stories, 
and  peruse  short  books;  we  should  enjoy  the  Campus  Mar- 
tius,  the  Porticos,  the  shade,  the  columns  of  the  Aqueduct 
Virgo,  the  thermw  (warm-baths).  These  would  be  ever  our 
labours,  these  our  places  of  resort.  As  it  is,  however,  neither 
you  nor  I  live  for  ourselves;  we  behold  the  good  suns  shine, 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  85 

and  pass  away ;  lost  are  they  for  ever,  yet,  nevertheless,  they 
are  counted  in  our  reckoning.  Is  it  possible  that  any  one 
who  knows  how  to  live  delays  to  live  accordingly? — Lib.  v. 
Ep.  xxi. 

The  above  epigram  is  thus  versified  by  Cowley;  in  his  version 
he  has  introduced  some  sentiments  of  a  disappointed  cavalier;  Cow- 
ley's version  or  paraphrase  is  nearly  double  the  length  of  the  ori- 
ginal, and  may  be  thought  inferior  to  it  in  simplicity  and  neatness  of 
expression : 

If,  dearest  friend,  if  my  good  fate  might  be, 
I'd  enjoy  at  once,  a  quiet  life  and  thee; 
If  we  for  happiness  could  leisure  find, 
And  wand'ring  Time  into  a  method  bind, 
,  We  should  not,  sure,  the  great  man's  favour  need, 
Nor  on  long  hopes,  the  Court's  thin  diet,  feed. 
We  should  not  patience  find  daily  to  hear 
The  calumnies  and  flatteries  spoken  there. 
We  should  not  the  lords'  tables  humbly  use, 
Or  talk  in  ladies'  chambers  love  and  news. 
But  books  and  wise  discourse,  gardens  and  fields, 
And  all  the  joys  that  unmixed  nature  yields; 
Thick  summer  shades,  where  winter  still  does  lie, 
Bright  winter  fires,  that  summer's  part  supply. 
Sleep  not  controlled  by  cares,  confined  to  night, 
Or  bound  in  any  rule  but  a,ppetite. 
Free,  but  not  savage,  nor  ungracious  mirth, 
Bich  wines  to  give  it  quick  and  easy  birth; 
A  few  companions  which  ourselves  should  choose, 
A  gentle  mistress,  and  a  gentler  Muse : 
Such,  dearest  friend,  such,  without  doubt  should  be 
Our  place,  our  business,  and  our  company. 
Now,  to  himself,  alas!  does  neither  live, 
But  sees  good  suns,  of  which  we  are  to  give 
A  strict  account,  set,  and  march  quick  away: 
Knows  a  man  how  to  live,  and  does  he  stay? 

Pereunt  et  imputantur  (they  perish  and  are  reckoned),  though, 
apparently,  intended  by  Martial  only  to  indicate  how  much  of  life 


86  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

had  been  sjDent,  has  been  inscribed  as  a  motto  on  dials,  and  perhaps 
may  be  thought  more  pointed  and  edifying  than  most  of  its  Latin 
rivals,  as  tempus  fugit,  or  labuntur  mini;  especially  to  the  scholar 
who  can  supply  the  previous  line,  Soles  effugere  atque  abire  sentit. 

Pereunt  et  imputantur  are  the  words  adopted  by  Cotton  as  the 
motto  of  a  small  poem  entitled  To-morrow,  in  which  the  following 
lines  occur : 

Arrest  the  present  moments, 
For  be  assured  they  all  are  arrant  tell-tales ; 
And  though  their  flight  be  silent,  and  their  path 
Tractless  as  the  winged  couriers  of  the  air, 
They  post  to  heaven,  and  there  record  thy  folly; 
Thou  shalt  be  made  to  answer  at  the  bar 
For  every  fugitive. 

The  motto  of  the  98th  Number  of  the  Lounger  (a  continuation  of 
the  Mirror),  which  Number  was  written  by  Mr  Mackenzie,  author 
of  the  Man  of  Feeling,  is : 

Nee  domos  potentum 
Nossemus,  nee  imagines  superbas. 

The  writer  of  the  Paper,  who  calls  himself  John  Homespun, 
states  that  he  is  a  freeholder,  and  possesses  considerable  influence  in 
a  county;  and  that  a  Lord,  or  rather  his  Lady,  whose  son  is  aspir- 
ing to  represent  the  county,  invited  himself  and  the  ladies  of  his 
family  to  their  house.  A  description  is  given  of  the  reception  and 
treatment  of  the  writer's  family  at  the  great  house. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  subject  of  Habitual  Sins, 
observes  that  "  not  to  repent  instantly  is  a  great  loss  of  our  time,  and 
it  may  be,  for  all  we  know,  the  loss  of  all  our  hopes ;"  quoting  from 
the  above  epigram: 

Nunc  vivit  sibi  neuter,  heu,  bonosque 
Soles  effugere  atque  abire  sentit, 
Qui  nobis  pereunt,  et  imputantur. 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  87 

LX. 

LIVING  TWICE. 

Antoninus  Primus,  on  this  day,  numbers  fifteen  Olym- 
piads (seventy-five  years),  passed  in  a  pleasant  tenour  of 
existence.  He  looks  back  on  the  days  and  years  he  has 
lived  without  their  raising  any  fear  about  the  proximate 
waters  of  Lethe.  To  his  memory  not  one  of  his  past  days 
is  grievous,  or  other  than  pleasant,  not  one  which  he  would 
not  wish  to  call  to  mind.  A  good  man  amplifies  the  span 
of  his  existence ;  for  this  is  to  live  twice,  to  be  able  to  find 
enjoyment  in  past  life. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xxiii. 

The  motto  of  Rogers's  Pleasures  of  Memory  is  taken  from  this 
epigram,  viz. : 

Hoc  est 

Vivere  bis,  vita  posse  priore  frui. 

Rogers  adverts  to  this  topic  in  the  latter  part  of  his  poem,  where  he 
dwells  on  "  the  rich  relics  of  a  well-spent  hour." 

The  motto  of  the  94th  Number  of  the  Spectator  is  the  same  as 
that  taken  for  the  Pleasures  of  Memory.  The  motto  of  the  40th 
Number  of  the  Rambler  consists  of  the  last  four  lines  of  the  epigram, 
of  which  the  following  version  is  given : 

No  day's  remembrance  shall  the  good  regret, 
Nor  wish  one  better  moment  to  forget; 
They  stretch  the  limits  of  their  narrow  span, 
And,  by  enjoying,  live  past  life  again. 

The  Paper  in  the  Spectator  is  illustrated  by  opinions  of  Locke  and 
Malebranche,  and  enlivened  by  Eastern  tales;  that  in  the  Rambler 
abounds  with  profound  reflections  on  human  life.  The  two  Papers 
exhibit  an  interesting  comparison  of  the  turns  of  thought  and  diver- 
sities of  style  in  Addison  and  Johnson. 

Colley  Gibber  adopts  as  a  motto  for  his  autobiography  the  same  as 
that  taken  by  Addison  and  Rogers,  with  the  following  version: 

When  years  no  more  of  active  life  retain, 
'Tis  youth  renew'd  to  laugh  'em  o'er  again. 


88  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Vincent  Bourne,  in  some  Latin  verses  on  the  death  of  Cotes,  con- 
cludes : 

Ampliat  setatem  sibi  vir  bonus;  ampliat  et  qui 

Praeclarum  studio  conficit  auctor  opus. 
Hoc  est  vivere  bis,  vita  potuisse  priori, 
Yivere  bis,  vita  posteriore  frui. 
i.e.  a  good  man  amplifies  the  term  of  his  existence,   and  he  also 
amplifies  it,  who  by  study  accomplishes  a  famous  work :  this  is  what 
may  be  called  living  twice,  whether  in  the  reminiscence  of  life  which 
is  past,  or  foretaste  of  life  which  is  future. 

In  the  57th  Number  of  the  Lounger,  a  correspondent,  who  repre- 
sents himself  as  an  old  man,  and  gives  a  detail  of  the  bright  prospects 
of  his  rising  family,  in  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  indulging,  makes 
a  reflection  that  this  is,  indeed,  living  twice. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Conscience,  observes,  "  A  good 
conscience  refreshed  the  sorrowing  of  Hezekiah  when  he  was  smitten 
with  the  plague.  It  not  only  brought  pleasure  for  what  was  past,  so 
doubling  the  good  of  it : 

Yivere  bis,  vita  posse  priore  frui; 
but  it  also  added  something  to  the  number  of  his  years: 
Ampliat  setatis  spatium  sibi  vir  bonus." 
Sir  William  Trumbull  writes  to  Pope,  in  a  letter  dated  June  19, 
1715-16,  "I  cannot  forbear  to  add  a  piece  of  artifice  I  have  been 
guilty  of  on  occasion  of  my  being  obliged  to  congratulate  the  birth- 
day of  a  friend  of  mine ;  when,  finding  I  had  no  materials  of  my  own, 
I  very  frankly  sent  him  your  imitation   of  Martial's  epigram  on 
Antonius  Primus: 

At  length,  my  friend,  (while  time  with  still  career 
Wafts  on  his  gentle  wing  this  eightieth  year,) 
Sees  his  past  days  safe  out  of  fortune's  power, 
Nor  dreads  approaching  fate's  uncertain  hour; 
Reviews  his  life,  and,  in  the  strict  survey, 
Finds  not  one  moment  he  could  wish  away, 
Pleas'd  with  the  series  of  each  happy  day. 
Such,  such  a  man  extends  his  life's  short  space, 
And  from  the  goal  again  renews  the  race: 
For  he  lives  twice,  who  can  at  once  employ 
The  present  well,  and  e'en  the  past  enjoy. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  89 

This  has  been  applauded  so  much,  that  I  am  in  danger  of  commencing 
Poet,  perhaps  Laureat  (pray  desire  my  good  friend  Mr  Howe  to 
enter  a  caveat),  provided  you  will  further  increase  my  stock  in  this 
bank.  In  which  proceeding  I  have  laid  the  foundation  of  my  estate, 
and  as  honestly  as  many  have  begun  theirs.  But  now  being  a  little 
fearful,  as  young  beginners  often  are,  I  offer  to  you  (for  I  have  con- 
cealed the  true  author)  whether  you  will  give  me  orders  to  declare 
who  is  the  father  of  this  fine  child,  or  not?" 

The  motto  of  the  family  of  the  Baronets  Becher  is  Bis  vivit,  qui 
bene.  This  is  the  third  motto  from  Martial  on  a  coat  of  arms,  in  the 
English  Peerage  and  Baronetage,  quoted  in  this  work;  and,  it  is  be- 
lieved, that  there  are  no  more.  Our  Aristocracy  has  more  commonly 
adopted  for  this  purpose  the  robusti  carminis  offas. 


LXL 
PROLONGING  LIFE. 


Liber!  the  sweetest  solicitude  of  your  friends,  worthy 
to  live  among  eternal  roses,  if  you  be  wise,  let  your  hair 
always  shine  with  Syrian  oil,  and  let  flowery  garlands  crown 
your  head.  Let  your  white  crystal  cups  be  darkened  by 
Falernian  wine,  and  let  love  enliven  your  soft  couch. — Who- 
ever has  lived  thus  even  to  a  middle  age,  has  made  life 
longer  than  as  it  was  given  to  him. — Lib.  vm.  Ep.  lxxvii. 
The  epigram  is  thus  translated  by  Ben  Jonson : 

Liber!  of  all  thy  friends  the  sweetest  care 

Thou,  worthy  in  eternal  flower  to  fare, 

If  thou  be'st  wise,  with  Syrian  oil  let  shine 

Thy  locks,  and  rosy  garments  crown  thy  head; 
Dark  thy  clear  glass  with  old  Falernian  wine, 

And  heat  with  softest  love  thy  softer  bed. 
He  that  but  living  half  his  days,  dies  such, 
Makes  his  life  longer  than  'twas  given  him,  much. 
The  thought  in  the  above  epigram  probably  also  suggested  to  Ben 
Jonson  the  point  in  his  epigram  addressed  to  William  Roe : 


90 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


When  nature  bids  us  leave  to  live,  'tis  late 

Then  to  begin,  my  Roe!     He  makes  a  state 

In  life,  that  can  employ  it;  and  takes  hold 

On  the  true  causes,  ere  they  grow  too  old. 

Delay  is  bad,  doubt  -worse,  depending  worst; 

Each  best  day  of  our  life  escapes  us  first. 

Then  since  we,  more  than  many,  these  truths  know, 

Though  life  be  short,  let  us  not  make  it  so. 

The  epigram  of  Martial  is  more  closely  followed  in  one  by  Ben 
Jonson,   addressed  to  Sir  Ralph  Skelton,  which  is  not  liable  to  the 
imputation  of  Epicurean  laxity.     It  concludes  thus : 
Which  is  to  live  to  conscience,  not  to  show. 
He  that,  but  living  half  his  age,  lives  such, 
Makes  the  whole  longer  than  was  given  him,  much. 


LXII. 

HEALTHY  LIFE. 


Cotta  has  lived  sixty,  and,  I  think,  two  more  harvests. 
Nor  can  he  call  to  mind  a  single  day  in  which  he  has  been 
confined  to  a  sick  bed.  He  puts  out  his  finger  to  the  eminent 
physicians  Alcontus,  Dasius,  Symmachus,  but  it  is  the  finger, 
not  of  a  patient,  but  that,  so-called,  of  scorn.  If  our  years 
be  properly  computed,  and  a  separation  be  made  from  the 
happier  moments  of  life,  of  what  burning  fever,  or  wearisome 
lassitude,  or  agony  of  mind,  have  taken  to  themselves,  we  are, 
in  fact,  infants,  though  we  appear  old.  Whoever  deems  the 
ages  of  Priam  and  Nestor  to  have  been  necessarily  long  is 
grossly  deceived;  for  life  is  not  simply  living,  but  living  in 
health. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  lxx. 

The  motto  of  the  48th  number  of  the  Rambler  is, 
Non  est  vivere,  sed  valere,  vita. 
Eor  life  is  not  to  live,  but  to  be  well. 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  91 

The  Paper  contains  useful  reflections  on  the  neglect  of  health. 
Dr  Johnson  treats  of  health  as  neglected  by  the  votaries  of  business, 
the  followers  of  pleasure,  and  those  who  lose  their  health  "in  an 
irregular  and  impetuous  pursuit  of  literary  accomplishments."  He 
reflects  on  errors  of  the  "  valetudinarian  race,"  and  leaves  us  a  lite- 
rary relic  in  a  prose  translation  by  himself  of  the  celebrated  Ode  to 
Health,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  gems  of  the  Greek  Anthology. 

The  same  motto  is  taken  for  the  143rd  number  of  the  Spectator, 
by  Steele,  with  a  version, 

For  life  is  only  life  when  blessed  with  health. 

The  Paper  is  chiefly  directed  against  valetudinarians  who  molest 
their  friends  with  the  details  of  their  illnesses,  and  against  the  ima- 
ginary complaints  of  ladies  of  fashion. 


LXIII. 

VERGE  OF  LIFE. 


0  Julius!  not  second  in  my  memory  to  any  one  of  my 
companions,  if  long-proved  friendship,  if  hoary  ties  are  to 
count.  Now  that  a  sixtieth  Consul  is  nearly  numbering  your 
years,  and  your  life  cannot  be  protracted  for  a  long  period, 
you  will  not  wisely  put  off  things  which,  as  you  may  perceive, 
there  is  a  probability  of  your  not  living  to  accomplish;  and 
you  will  calculate  on  the  past  only  as  being  your  own.  Let 
cares,  and  labour  with  its  chains,  be  put  off  till  another  day ; 
but  joys  do  not  remain;  if  not  tasted  they  fly  away.  Seize 
pleasure,  therefore,  with  both  hands,  and  in  a  close  embrace ; 
even  with  all  our  efforts  it  will  escape  as  through  the  folds 
of  a  toga.  Believe  me,  it  is  not  the  part  of  a  wise  man  to 
say,  "I  will  live;"  to-morrow's  life  is  too  late,  live  to-day. — 
Lib.  i.  Ep.  xvi. 


92  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Repentance,  quotes  from  the 
above  epigram  the  lines, 

Non  bene  distuleris,  videas  quse  posse  negari; 
Sera  nimis  vita  est  crastina,  vive  hodie, 

wherein  he  observes  that  a  man  "  cannot  lie  in  sin  a  moment  without 
hazarding  eternity,  every  instant  is  a  danger;  that  a  death-bed  peni- 
tence is  not  productive  of  the  fruits  of  amendment  of  life."  In 
another  Discourse  on  Considerations  preparatory  to  Death,  Jeremy 
Taylor  quotes  from  Martial's  epigram  the  lines, 

Bis  jam  pen!  tibi  Consul  trigesimus  instat, 
Et  numerat  paucos  vel  tua  vita  dies. 

As  to  which  he  remarks,  that  the  "business  and  impertinent  affairs 
of  most  men  steal  all  their  time,  and  they  are  restless  in  a  foolish 
motion:  but  this  is  not  the  progress  of  a  man;  he  is  no  further 
advanced  in  the  course  of  life,  though  he  reckon  many  years,  for  still 
his  soul  is  childish  and  trifling,  like  an  untaught  boy." 


LXIV. 

PROSPEEOUS  INIQUITY. 

Selius  affirms  that  there  are  no  Gods,  and  that  Heaven 
is  empty;  and  he  produces  a  proof  of  his  assertion;  viz. 
that  whilst  he  denies  all  Providence,  he  beholds  himself 
affluent. — Lib.  iy.  Ep.  xxi. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Faith  and  Patience,  quotes  the 
above  epigram,  observing  that  "  when  men  choose  a  good  cause  upon 
confidence  that  an  ill  one  cannot  thrive,  that  is  not  for  the  love 
of  virtue  or  duty  to  God,  but  for  profit  and  secular  interest.  Take  in 
all  the  aids  you  can,  and  if  the  fancy  of  standers-by,  or  the  hearing  of 
a  cock-crow,  can  add  any  collateral  aids  to  thy  weakness,  refuse  them 
not ;  but  let  thy  state  of  sufferings  begin  with  choice,  and  be  con- 
firmed with  knowledge,  and  place  your  reliance  upon  the  love  and  the 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  93 

aids  of  God,  and  the  expectation  of  heaven,  and  the  present  sense  of 
duty ;  and  then  your  actions  will  be  as  glorious  in  the  event,  as  they 
are  prudent  in  the  enterprise,  and  religious  in  the  prosecution." 

Martial's  epigram  is  also  quoted  by  Todd,  in  his  edition  of  Milton, 
in  illustration  of  a  passage  in  the  lady's  speech  in  Gomus  : 

But  with  besotted  base  ingratitude, 
Crams,  and  blasphemes  his  feeder. 


LXV. 

CHOICE  OF  A  PROFESSION. 

Taurus,  you  delay  making  choice  of  a  profession,  some- 
times giving  out  that  you  will  be  a  Rhetorician,  at  others 
a  Lawyer.  You  are  suffering  the  old  ages  of  Priam  and 
Nestor  to  glide  away ;  whilst  it  is  already  late  for  you  to  end, 
how  much  more  so  to  begin!  If  you  have  any  spirit  or 
talent,  make  a  start.  Three  Rhetoricians  have  died  in  the 
course  of  the  last  year ;  and,  if  you  spurn  the  schools,  behold, 
all  the  Courts  of  Law  are  now  full  of  lawsuits,  Marsyas 
himself  might  get  employed  as  a  lawyer  at  the  forum. 
Away  with  delays;  how  long  are  we  to  be  spectators  of 
your  wavering?  Whilst  you  are  reiterating  your  doubts 
about  what  you  will  be  hereafter,  you  show  us  that  you 
can  be  one  thing  at  present,  which  is,  nothing  at  all. — 
Lib.  ii.  Ep.  lxiv. 

The  allusion  to  Marsyas  implies  that  circumstances  were  so  fa- 
vourable for  embracing  the  profession  of  the  law,  that  a  marble  statue 
might  become  a  lawyer.  A  statue  of  Marsyas  undergoing  the  punish- 
ment of  being  flayed  alive  by  Apollo,  was  placed  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Roman  forum,  as  a  memento  to  litigants  on  the  subject  of  costs; 
Marsyas  having  been  cast  in  a  suit  with  Apollo  touching  the  relative 
merits  of  the  flute  and  the  lyre. 


94  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Jeremy  Taylor  has  quoted  and  applied  Martial's  epigram  in  his 
Discourse  on  a  late  Death-bed  Repentance,  and  also  in  that  on  Sins 
of  Infirmity.  He  observes  that  "there  is  no  infirmity  greater  than 
that  a  man  shall  not  be  able  to  determine  for  himself  what  he  ought 
to  do." 

Part  of  this  epigram  is  adopted  as  a  motto  for  the  19  th  number 
of  the  Rambler,  with  a  poetical  English  version : 

To  rhetoric  now,  and  now  to  law  inclin'd; 
Uncertain  where  to  fix  thy  changing  mind; 
Old  Priam's  age,  or  Nestor's  may  be  out, 
And  Thou,   O  Taurus  !  still  go  on  in  doubt : 
Come,  then,  how  long  such  wavering  shall  we  see? 
Thou  may'st  doubt  on;  thou  now  can'st  nothing  be. 

Dr  Johnson  illustrates  the  subject  by  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Poly- 
philus,  "a  man  whom  all  his  acquaintances  had,  from  his  first  appear- 
ance in  the  world,  feared  for  the  quickness  of  his  discernment,  and 
admired  for  the  multiplicity  of  his  attainments,  but  whose  progress  in 
life  and  usefulness  to  mankind  had  been  hindered  by  the  superfluity 
of  his  knowledge  and  the  celerity  of  his  mind."  Polyphilus,  in  a 
ramble  to  London,  fell  accidentally  into  a  company  of  physicians,  and 
was  much  pleased  with  the  prospect  of  turning  philosophy  to  profit. 
He  embraced  the  medical  profession,  and  advocated  a  new  theory  of 
fevers ;  but  going  to  see  a  novel  plant  in  flower  at  Chelsea,  in  crossing 
Westminster  Bridge  to  take  water,  he  met  the  Lord  Chancellor's 
coach,  which  gave  a  new  turn  to  his  ideas,  and  he  became  a  lawyer, 
la  time,  however,  he  discovered  numerous  objections  to  the  legal 
profession;  and  he  entered  the  army.  After  a  campaign  he  had 
recourse  to  literary  pursuits;  deciphered  Chinese  books,  composed  a 
farce,  collected  a  vocabulary  of  obsolete  terms  of  English  law,  wrote 
an  inquiry  concerning  the  ancient  Corinthian  brass,  and  formed  a 
new  scheme  of  the  variations  of  the  needle.  Thus,  writes  Johnson, 
"  was  this  powerful  genius,  which  might  have  extended  the  sphere  of 
any  science,  or  benefited  the  world  in  any  profession,  dissipated  in  a 
boundless  variety,  without  profit  to  others  or  himself."  After  some 
admirable  observations  on  the  effect  of  balancing  all  the  arguments 
on  every  side  in  the  choice  of  an  employment,  Johnson  concludes 
"  that  of  two  states  of  life  equally  consistent  with  religion  and  virtue, 
he  who  chooses  earliest,  chooses  best." 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  95 

LXVL 

PROCRASTINATION. 

Posthumus!  you  say  that  you  will  live  to-morrow, 
always  to-morrow.  Tell  me,  Posthumus!  when  that  to- 
morrow will  come?  How  far  distant  is  that  to-morrow? 
where  is  it  to  be  sought  for  ?  Does  it  lie  concealed  among 
the  Parthians  and  the  Armenians?  That  to-morrow  has 
already  the  years  of  Priam  and  Nestor.  Tell  me  for  what 
price  can  I  buy  that  to-morrow?  You  will  live,  you  say, 
to-morrow;  it  is  late,  Posthumus,  to  live  to-day;  he  is  wise 
who  lived  yesterday. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  lix. 

Cowley  has  thus  translated  the  above  epigram: 

To-morrow  you  will  live,  you  always  cry; 
In  what  far  country  does  this  morrow  lie, 
That  'tis  so  mighty  long  ere  it  arrive? 
Beyond  the  Indies  does  this  morrow  live? 
'Tis  so  far  fetch'd  this  morrow,  that  I  fear 
'Twill  be  both  very  old  and  very  dear. 
To-morrow  I  will  live,  the  fool  does  say; 
To-day  itselfs  too  late,  the  wise  liv'd  yesterday. 

Young,  in  his  Night  Thoughts,  has  a  parallel  passage  to  the  above 

epigram,  which  may  possibly  have  been  suggested  by  it : 

That  awful  independent  on  to-morrow, 

Whose  work  is  done;  who  triumphs  in  the  past; 

Whose  yesterdays  look  backwards  with  a  smile, 

Nor,  like  the  Parthian,  wound  him  as  they  fly. 
%  *  *  *  *  -s:- 

Lorenzo — 0  for  yesterdays  to  come1? 

The  motto  of  the  80th  Number  of  the  Lounger,  by  Mackenzie,  is : 

Die  mihi,  eras  istud,  Posthume,  quando  venit. 

The  Paper  contains  a  letter  signed  "Your  most  obedient  servant, 
To-morrow."  The  writer  wishes  to  take  out  a  Commission  of  Bank- 
ruptcy in  the  Lounger,  and  desires  that  it  may  be  signified  to  the 


96  MARTIAL    AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

different  classes  of  his  creditors  what  division  they  were  to  expect. 
He  then  announces  that  dividends  may  be  anticipated  by  those  with 
whom  he  had  become  acquainted  at  Court,  and  in  Courts  of  Law, 
especially  Chancery,  Projectors,  Authors,  Beauties;  to  all  of  whom 
he  was  deeply  in  debt  by  promises  of  a  to-morrow. 

In  the  96th  Number  of  the  Observer  (by  Cumberland),  is  given 
the  outline  of  a  will,  in  which  To-day  is  supposed  to  devise  a  load  of 
procrastinations  in  the  nature  of  resolutions,  promises,  and  engage- 
ments, to  his  heir  and  successor,  To-morrow. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Invalidity  of  a  Death-bed 
Repentance,  quotes  the  two  concluding  lines  of  Martial's  epigram,  as 
to  which  he  observes,  that  "he  that  repents  to-day  repents  late 
enough  that  he  did  not  begin  yesterday;  but  he  that  puts  off  till 
to-morrow  is  vainer  still."  The  same  lines  are  quoted  by  Jeremy 
Taylor  in  another  Discourse  on  Habitual  Sins,  wherein  he  writes, 
"Think  it  not  a  hasty  commandment  that  we  are  called  upon  to 
repent  to-day.  It  was  too  much  that  yesterday  passed  by  you,  it 
is  late  enough  if  you  do  it  to-day."  And,  in  another  Discourse  on 
the  Obligation  of  the  Laws  of  Jesus  Christ,  Jeremy  Taylor,  after 
quoting  from  Martial's  epigram,  observes  "Though  hodie  (to-day), 
signifies  the  present  time,  yet  the  repentance  which  began  yesterday, 
and  which  took  an  earlier  hodie  is  better  than  that  which  begins 
to-day;  but  that  which  stays  till  to-morrow  is  the  worst  of  all.  Heri 
and  hodie,  yesterday  and  to-day,  signify  eternity:  so  it  is  said  of 
Christ,  yesterday  and  to-day,  the  same  for  ever.  But  hodie  and  eras, 
to-day  and  to-morrow,  signify  but  a  little  while.  '  To-day,  and 
to-morrow  I  work,'  that  is,  I  work  a  little  while,  and  'the  third 
day,'  that  is,  very  shortly  and  quickly,  'I  shall  make  an  end'." 


LXVII. 
DYING,   FOR   FEAR   OF   DEATH. 

Fannius,  when  he  was  flying  from  an  enemy,  killed 
himself.  I  ask  if  this  be  not  madness,  to  die  for  fear  of 
dying  ? — Lib.  n.  Ep.  lxxx. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  97 

Butler,  in  Hudibras,  seems  to  have  been  pleased  with  the  turn  of 
expression  in  this  epigram ;  he  has  twice  apparently  imitated  it :  thus 
in  Canto  III.  Part  in. : 

For  men  as  resolute  appear 

With  too  much,  as  too  little,  fear; 

And  when  they're  out  of  hopes  of  flying, 

Will  run  away  from  death  by  dying. 

And  also  in  Canto  II.  Part  m. : 

For  so  our  ignorance  was  flamm'd, 
To  damn  ourselves,  t'  avoid  being  damn'd. 
Montaigne  quotes  the  above  epigram  in  an  Essay  in  which  he 
shows  that  in  endeavouring  to  evade  death  by  flying  from  inconve- 
niences, we  often  run  into  its  mouth;    his  translator  thus  versifies 
Martial's  epigram : 

Can  there  be  greater  madness,  pray  reply, 
Than  that  one  should,  for  fear  of  dying,  die1? 

Jeremy  Taylor  has  twice  quoted  the  above  epigram  of  Martial, 
and  speaks  of  Fannius  as  of  a  household  name.  In  a  Discourse  on 
Remedies  against  the  Fear  of  Death,  after  quoting  the  above  epigram 
of  Martial,  he  observes,  "  If,  therefore,  you  be  afraid  of  death,  consider 
that  you  will  have  the  less  need  to  fear  it,  by  how  much  the  less 
you  do  fear  it.  Thus  you  may  cure  your  direct  fear  by  a  reflex  act 
of  prudence  and  consideration.  Fannius  had  not  died  so  soon,  if  he 
had  not  feared  death."  And,  again,  in  a  Discourse  on  Penal  Laws,  he 
writes,  "  To  die  in  order  to  avoid  poverty,  the  torments  of  love,  or  any 
evil  affliction  whatsoever,  is  not  the  part  of  a  valiant  man,  but  of  a 
coward:"  after  quoting  Martial's  epigram,  he  adds,  "Fannius  being 
pursued  by  the  enemy  killed  himself  out  of  fear ;"  and,  again,  "  It  may 
be  cowardice  to  die  in  some  cases;  and  to  die  in  order  to  preserve 
chastity  is  to  sin  to  avoid  a  sin,  like  Fannius' s  case  of  fear."  He 
supports  the  latter  questionable  opinion  by  the  authority  that  "Abra- 
ham ventured  his  wife's  chastity  rather  than  his  own  life,"  and  he 
hints  his  disapprobation  of  the  Yirgin-martyrs. 

The  Chaplain  of  the  Ambassador  to  the  Great  Mogul,  in  giving 
a  highly  interesting  narrative  of  the  concluding  period  of  the  life  of 
the  celebrated,  but  not  adequately-appreciated  Coryat,  relates  his 
falling  into  a  swoon  at  the  Ambassador's  house :  the  Chaplain  writes, 

MART.  H 


98  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

"  O  what  pains  this  poor  man  took  to  make  himself  a  subject  of  pre- 
sent and  after  discourse !  being  troubled  at  nothing  for  the  present, 
unless  with  the  fear  of  not  living  to  reap  that  fruit  he  was  so 
ambitious  of  in  all  his  undertakings.  At  last,  being  come  to  himself, 
he  told  us  that  some  sad  thoughts  of  not  living  to  publish  his  travels, 
had  immediately  before  presented  themselves  to  his  fancy,  which,  as 
he  conceived,  put  him  into  that  distemper;  like  Fannius,  in  Martial, 
ne  moriare,  mori,  to  prevent  death  by  dying." 


LXVIII. 

SUICIDE. 


(I.) 
You  follow  the  dogmas  of  the  great  Thrasea,  and  of  the 
perfect  Cato,  in  a  manner  to  show  that  you  wish  to  be  like 
them;  but  you  do  not  rush  with  a  naked  breast  on  drawn 
swords ;  in  which  I  commend  you.  A  Man  is  not  to  my  mind 
who  seeks  for  reputation  by  the  easy  spilling  of  his  blood. 
I  prefer  the  Man  who  can  deserve  praise  on  other  grounds 
than  his  own  death. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  ix. 

(ii.) 
Stoic  Chseremon !  Do  you  expect  that  I  should  admire 
and  reverence  your  magnanimity  in  excessively  extolling 
suicide?  All  this  virtue  you  derive  from  a  pitcher  with  a 
broken  ear,  from  a  sad  hearth  never  warmed  by  fire,  from  a 
bed  with  a  coverlid  of  coarse  cloth,  without  hangings  and  full 
of  bugs;  from  the  same  toga,  and  that  a  very  short  one, 
by  night  and  by  day.  0  great  Man  that  thou  art,  who 
canst  bid  adieu  to  the  dregs  of  spoilt  vinegar;  who  canst 
go  without  straw  and  black  bread!  Let  only  thy  pillow 
swell  with  Ligonic  wool,  and  let  purple  embroidery  cover 
thy  couch;   enjoy  Ccecubian  wine,   and  revel  in  sensuality, 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  99 

0,  how  then  thou  wouldst  wish  to  live  thrice  the  years  of 
Kestor,  and  wouldst  grudge  the  loss  of  a  single  day  out  of 
them!  It  is  easy  to  despise  death  in  adversity;  he  is  the 
brave  man  who  can  endure  misery. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  lvii. 

Montaigne  observes,  with  regard  to  the  second  of  the  above 
epigrams,  that  "there  is  more  consistency  in  suffering  the  chain 
we  are  tied  to  than  breaking  it;  and  there  is  more  pregnant  evidence 
of  fortitude  in  Eegulus  than  in  Cato."  The  translator  thus  renders 
the  lines  of  the  epigram  which  Montaigne  quotes: 

The  wretched  well  may  laugh  at  death,  but  he 
Is  braver  far  who  lives  in  misery. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Faith  working  by  Love,  quotes 
several  lines  from  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams,  which  he  thus 
closely  applies,  but  with  a  different  object:  "Some  men  are  very 
good  when  they  are  afflicted,  when  the  gown  of  the  day  is  the  mantle 
of  the  night,  and  cannot  at  the  same  time  cover  the  head,  and  make 
the  feet  warm :  when  they  have  but  one  broken  dish,  and  no  spoon, 
then  they  are  humble  and  modest,  then  they  can  suffer  an  injury  and 
bear  contempt.  But,  give  them  riches,  and  they  grow  insolent ;  fear 
and  pusillanimity  did  their  first  work,  and  an  opportunity  to  sin 
undoes  it  all."  In  another  Discourse  on  the  Invalidity  of  a  Death-bed 
Repentance,  Jeremy  Taylor  quotes,  as  appropriate  to  his  subject,  the 
concluding  line  of  the  above  epigram : 

Hunc  volo,  laudari  qui  sine  morte  potest.     . 


LX1X. 

DYING   FOR   ANOTHER. 

If,  Lucanus   and   Tullius !    the   same    fates    had   been 

awarded  to  you  as  to  Castor  and  Pollux  (living  alternate 

days)  there  would  be  a  noble  struggle  of  affection  between 

you  as  to   which   should    die   first   for   his    Brother ;    and 

h2 


100 


MARTIAL    AND   THE   MODERNS. 


[CH. 


whichever  first  descended  to  the  Shades  below,  would  have 
exclaimed,  Live,  0  Brother,  your  time,  live  mine!  (Vive  tuo, 
/rater ,  tempore,  vive  meo). — Lib,  i.  Ep.  xxxvu. 

This  epigram  is  quoted  by  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  upon 
Alms,  in  which  he  enumerates  nineteen  separate  Works  of  Mercy; 
the  eighteenth  is  "  To  die  for  my  brother."  Martial  has  a  similar 
sentiment  of  great  beauty: 

Qui  te,  Prisce,  reliquit, 
Yivit,  qua  voluit  vivere  parte  magis. 


LXX. 

BOY   KILLED   BY   AN   ICICLE. 

Where  a  gate  of  Rome  is  always  dripping  in  consequence 
of  its  proximity  to  the  Vipsanian  Aqueduct,  an  icicle  of 
water  made  heavy  by  wintry  frost  fell  on  the  throat  (jugulum) 
of  a  youth  who  was  passing  underneath.  It  inflicted  a  cruel 
fate  on  the  unfortunate  boy,  and  then  instantly  its  slender 
point  melted  in  the  warm  wound  it  had  made.  What  cruel- 
ties will  not  Fortune  permit  to  itself!  Or  where  is  not 
Death  to  be  found  if  you  Waters  turn  cut-throats  (Jugulatis)? 
Lib.  iv.  Ep.  xviii. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Considerations  preparatory  to 
Death,  quotes  the  above  epigram,  observing  on  the  multiform  modes 
of  death,  as  "by  God's  mercy,  by  God's  anger,  by  every  thing  in 
nature,  and  every  thing  in  chance." 

Becker  takes  his  Gallus  out  of  Borne  through  the  Capenian  gate, 
which  he  describes  as  an  antique  rocky  arch,  from  the  moist  stones  of 
which  great  drops  from  the  water  of  the  aqueduct  which  was  carried 
over  it  were  always  falling. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  101 

LXXL 

DEATH   CAUSED   BY  DBEAMING   OF   A   PHYSICIAN. 

He  bathed  in  our  company,  at  which  time  he  was  cheer- 
ful; he  afterwards  supped  with  us:  in  the  morning  he  was 
found  dead.  Do  you  want  to  know  the  cause  of  his  sudden 
death  ?  He  had  seen  the  physician  Hermocrates  in  a  dream. 
— Lib.  vi.  Ep.  liii. 

The  ridicule  on  physicians  in  the  above  epigram  is  taken  frorn^a 
Greek  epigram;  another  Greek  epigram,  in  the  form  of  an  epitaph, 
makes  the  deceased  say  that  he  died  of  fright  in  consequence  of  the 
sudden  recurrence  of  a  certain  physician  to  his  memory.  Montaigne 
quotes  Martial's  epigram  on  the  apparition  of  Hermocrates,  and,  in 
connexion  therewith,  relates  several  pleasant  stories  about  physicians. 

The  first  two  lines  of  Martial's  epigram,  relating  only  to  a 
person's  sudden  death,  and  not  to  any  fanciful  cause  of  it,  are  quoted 
by  Jeremy  Taylor  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Preparation  for  Death; 
he  observes  on  them  that  "wise  men  should  be  never  surprised  at 
what  we  are  sure  will  somehow  or  other  happen." 


LXXII. 

CONNUBIAL  FELICITY. 

My  friend  Pudens  marries  Claudia  Peregrina.  0  Hymen ! 
be  ready  with  your  torches.  As  fitly  is  the  rare  cinnamon 
blended  with  nard,  as  fitly  is  the  Massic  wine  mixed  with 
Attic  honey ;  nor  more  fitly  are  elms  united  with  the  tender 
vines;  nor  do  rills  love  more  the  lotus,  nor  their  banks  the 
myrtle.  0  Concord!  garbed  in  white  attire,  reside  always 
with  that  nuptial  couch !  and  may  Yenus  be  ever  propitious 
to   so  suitable  a  marriage!     After  a  lapse  of  years   may 


102  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Claudia  love,  as  now,  her  then  aged  husband;  and  may  she, 
even  when  she  is  old,  not  appear  old  in  his  eyes! — Lib,  iv. 
Ep.  xiii. 

The  latter  lines  of  the  above  epigram  are  adopted  as  a  motto 
for  the  506th  number  of  the  Spectator,  and  as  another  for  the 
167th  number  of  the  Rambler,  of  which  the  version  given  in  the 
Spectator  is, 

Perpetual  harmony  their  bed  attend, 
And,  Yenus !  still  the  well-match' d  pair  befriend ! 
May  she,  when  Time  has  sunk  him  into  years, 
Love  her  old  man,  and  cherish  his  white  hairs; 
Nor  he  perceive  her  charms  through  age  decay, 
But  think  each  happy  sun  his  bridal  clay. 

The  version  in  the  Rambler  is, 

Their  nuptial  bed  may  smiling  Concord  dress, 
And  Yenus  still  the  happy  union  bless! 
Wrinkled  with  age,  may  mutual  love  and  truth 
To  their  dim  eyes  recall  the  bloom  of  youth. 

Ausonius  has  expanded  Martial's  idea  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
epigram,  apparently  in  imitation  of  him:  he  expresses  a  hope  that 
himself  and  his  wife  should  continue  to  appear  juvenile  to  each  other, 
notwithstanding  he  might  become  more  aged  than  Nestor,  and  she 
than  the  Sibyl  Deiphobe. 

The  following  passage  in  Dugald  Stewart's  Essay  on  the  Beautiful 
illustrates  the  same  sentiment,  and  may  be  considered  a  testimony  to 
its  truth  and  delicacy.  It  is  by  the  process  of  association  that  the 
"mental  attractions  of  a  beautiful  woman  supplant  those  of  her 
person  in  the  heart  of  her  lover ;  and  that  when  the  former  have  the 
good  fortune  to  survive  the  latter,  they  appropriate  to  themselves,  by 
an  imperceptible  metaphor,  that  language  which,  in  its  literal  sense, 
has  ceased  to  have  a  meaning.  In  this  case  a  very  pleasing  arrange- 
ment of  Nature  is  exhibited;  the  qualities  of  mind  which  insensibly 
stole,  in  the  first  instance,  those  flattering  epithets  which  are  descrip- 
tive of  a  fair  exterior,  now  restoring  their  borrowed  embellishments, 
and  keeping  alive,  in  the  eye  of  conjugal  affection,  that  beauty  which 
has  long  perished  to  every  other." 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  103 

LXXIII. 

A  KICH  WIFE. 

Do  you  ask  me  why  I  am  unwilling  to  marry  a  rich  wife  ? 
It  is  because  I  do  not  wish  to  be  taken  to  wife.  A  matron 
should  hold  a  second  place  to  her  husband,  otherwise  they 
are  not  a  pair. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xn. 

Boileau,  in  one  of  his  satires,  has  a  line  in  which  the  above  epi- 
gram is  imitated,  with  the  modification  of  marrying  a  master : 

Quoiqu'il  en  puisse  estre, 
Je  ne  suis  point  si  sot  que  d'epouser  mon  maistre. 

On  which  passage  a  French  commentator  observes,  that  Boileau 
wished  to  imitate  the  same  beauty  of  language  as  in  Martial,  trans- 
lating uxori  nubere  nolo  mece,  epouser  mon  maistre,"  whereas  the 
Latin  phrase  nubere  marito  was  applicable  to  women,  as  that  of  dueere 
uxor  em  to  men;  "c'est  en  quoi  consiste  la  finesse  du  bon-mot  de 
Martial." 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Discourse  on  the  Marriage  Ring,  quotes 
from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  the  last  two  lines : 

Inferior  matrona  suo  sit,  Prisce,  marito : 
Non  aliter  fuerint  fceniina  virque  pares. 

Upon  which  he  observes, 'that  "The  woman  that  went  oefore  the 
man  in  the  way  of  death  is  commanded  to  follow  him  in  the  way  of 
love,  and  that  makes  the  society  more  perfect,  and  the  union  profit- 
able, and  the  harmony  complete." 


LXXIV. 

MUTUAL  FRIENDSHIP. 


Marcus!  you  complain  that,  in  these  days,  there  is  no 
Pylades,  no  Orestes  to  be  found.  I  answer,  Pylades  and 
Orestes  drank  the  same  wine  (bibebat  idem) ;  neither  of  them 


104  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

had  a  better  thrush  nor  finer  bread  served  to  him  than  the 
other,  when  they  supped  together.  You  devour  Lucrine 
oysters,  whilst  I  am  set  to  feed  on  flabby  sea-urchins;  and' 
yet  my  palate  is  as  nobly-born  as  yours.  You  are  clad  in  a 
cloak  of  Egyptian  wool  and  of  Tyrian  dye,  I  in  one  that  is 
the  coarse  product  of  Gaul.  Can  I  in  a  blanket  love  you  in 
a  purple  robe  ?  That  I  may  act  the  part  of  Pylades,  let  some 
one  appear  to  me  in  the  character  of  Orestes.  Words  will 
not  do  this ;  Marcus !  to  be  loved,  you  must  love. — Lib.  vi. 
Ep.  XT, 

The  above  epigram  is  adopted  by  Johnson  for  the  149th  number 
of  the  Rambler,  with  the  following  version : 

You  wonder  now  that  no  man  sees 
Such  friends  as  those  of  ancient  Greece. 
Here  lies  the  point — Orestes'  meat 
Was  just  the  same  his  friend  did  eat ; 
Nor  can  it  yet  be  found  his  wine 
Was  better,  Pylades  !  than  thine. 
In  home-spun  russet  I  am  drest, 
Your  cloth  is  always  of  the  best. 
But,  honest  Marcus,  if  you  please 
To  chuse  me  for  your  Pylades, 
Remember,  words  alone  are  vain; 
Love — if  you  would  be  lov'd  again. 

Johnson's  Paper  consists  of  a  letter  to  the  Rambler,  from  a  lady 
who  had  "  passed  much  of  her  time  in  a  dependent  state,  and  con- 
sequently had  received  many  favours  in  the  opinion  of  those  at  whose 
expense  she  had  been  maintained,  for  which  she  did  not  feel  in  her 
heart  any  burning  gratitude,  or  tumultuous  affection."  The  letter 
concludes,  "  I  beg  to  be  informed,  Mr  Rambler,  how  much  we  can  be 
supposed  to  owe  to  beneficence  exerted  on  terms  like  these  1  to  bene- 
ficence which  pollutes  its  gifts  with  contumely,  and  may  be  truly  said 
to  pander  to  pride  1  I  would  willingly  be  told  whether  insolence  does 
not  reward  its  own  liberalities,  and  whether  he  that  exacts  servility 
can,  with  justice,  at  the  same  time,  expect  affection?" 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  105 

The  last  two  lines  of  the  above  epigram  are  quoted  by  Jeremy 
Taylor  in  a  Discourse  on  Friendship,  in  which  he  discusses  the  point, 
whether  we  ought  to  love  a  brother  more  than  a  friend  ?  He  observes 
that  David  loved  Jonathan  more  than  he  loved  his  brother  Eliab,  and 
he  concludes,  somewhat  to  the  same  purport  as  Martial,  that  "  If  my 
brother  says  I  ought  to  love  him  best,  then  he  ought  to  love  me  best. 
If  he  says  I  must  love  him  only  because  he  is  my  brother,  whether  he 
loves  me  or  not,  he  is  ridiculous."  In  another  discourse,  in  which 
Jeremy  Taylor  argues  in  favour  of  the  chalice  being  received  in  the 
Sacrament  not  less  than  the  bread,  he  observes,  "  I  will  not  venture 
to  assign  to  each  their  portion  and  effect,  and  therefore  I  will  not 
take  notice  that  the  chalice  is  representative  and  effective  of  union 
and  charity,  though  that  is  usual  enough  in  societies  and  friendships. 
Pylades,  Marce,  bibebat  idem.'" 


LXXV. 

INTIMATE  FMENDS. 


I  have  lived  on  terms  of  friendship  with  you,  0  Julius, 
if  I  recollect  right,  thirty-four  harvests.  Our  friendship  has 
yielded  pleasures  not  altogether  unmixed  with  pains;  but 
the  pleasures  have  preponderated;  and  if  all  the  coloured 
balls  were  collected,  and  placed  against  each  other,  the 
crowd  of  white  would  exceed  that  of  black.  If  you  wish 
to  avoid  an  alloy  to  your  happiness,  and  to  escape  the  eating 
cares  of  the  soul,  do  not  make  yourself  too  much  of  a  com- 
panion to  any  one:  you  will  taste  less  of  joy,  but  also  less 
of  sorrow. — Lib.  xu.  Ep.  xxxiv. 

In  a  passage  of  Cicero's  Treatise  upon  Friendship,  Cicero  notices 
certain  Greek  philosophers  who  dissuaded  their  disciples  from  en- 
tering into  any  strong  attachments,  as  unavoidably  creating  super- 
numerary disquietudes, — advice  which  Cicero  reprobates  with  much 


106  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

eloquence.  Melnioth,  in  adverting  to  this  passage  of  Cicero,  observes 
that  Martial  has  expressed  these  sentiments  of  Aristippus  and  his 
school  of  Greek  philosophers,  "in  a  pretty  epigram."  He  quotes 
the  four  concluding  lines  of  Martial's  epigram,  with  the  following 
version : 

Would'st  thou  secure  thy  guarded  breast 

From  many  a  tender,  anxious  pain? 
Let  cold  indifference,  wiser  guest, 

From  friendship's  warmth  thy  heart  restrain. 
Thy  joys  will  thus  be  less,  'tis  true, 

But  less  will  prove  thy  sorrows  too. 

Vincent  Bourne,  in  one  of  his  nineteen  epigrams  (or  short  poems), 
translated  into  English  verse  by  Cowper,  has  one  with  a  title,  Nulli 
te  facias  nimis  sodalem,  or  as  Cowper  renders  it,  Familiarity  dan- 
ger oils.  Bourne  and  Cowper  describe  an  old  maid  at  play  with  her 
cat,  who,  in  the  end,  scratches  her. 


LXXVI. 

NEW  FRIENDS. 


If,  Fuscus,  you  have  any  leisure  to  bestow  on  being  more 
beloved  (for  your  friendships  abound  whichever  way  you 
turn),  I  petition  for  a  single  place  among  your  friends.  Do 
not  refuse  me,  because  I  am  new  to  you,  seeing  that  all 
your  old  friends  were  once  new.  Look,  I  pray  you,  only 
into  one  thing,  which  is,  whether  your  newly-proposed  friend 
is  qualified  to  become  an  old  friend. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  lv. 

The  petitioning  to  be  admitted  into  friendship  is  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  colder  manners  of  our  countrymen ;  in  other  respects 
the  above  epigram  is  of  universal  application.  Melmoth,  in  his  Notes 
to  Cicero's  Treatise  on  Friendship,  observes  that  "  Martial,  soliciting 
one  of  his  contemporaries  to  be  admitted  into  the  number  of  his 
friends,   concludes  an  epigram  which  he  addresses  to  him  for  that 


HI.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  107 

purpose,  with  a  sentiment  perfectly  agreeable  to  Cicero's  advice." 
Melmoth  gives  the  following  poetical  version  of  the  above  epigram  : 

If  yet  one  corner  in  thy  breast 
Remains,   good  Fuscus,   unpossessed, 
(For  many  a  friend,   I  know,  is  thine,) 
Give  me  to  boast  that  corner  mine. 
Nor  thou  the  honour'd  place  I  sue 
Refuse  to  an  acquaintance  new. 
The  oldest  friend  of  all  thy  store 
Was  once,  'tis  certain,  nothing  more. 
It  matters  not  how  late  the  choice, 
If  but  approved  by  reason's  voice  ! 
Then  let  thy  sole  inquiry  be, 
If  thou  can'st  find  such  worth  in  me 
That,  constant  as  the  years  are  roll'd, 
Matures  new  friendship  into  old. 

Jeremy  Taylor  cites  this  epigram,  observing  that  "  an  old  friend 
is  like  old  wine,  which  when  a  man  hath  drunk  he  doth  not  desire 
new,  because  he  saith  the  old  is  better :  nevertheless,  every  old  friend 
was  new  once,  and  if  he  be  worthy,  keep  the  new  one  till  he  become 
old."  Quoting  this  epigram  in  another  place,  he  observes,  that  "what 
Martial  says  of  friendships  he  may  say  of  truths." 


LXXVII. 

GIFTS  TO  FRIENDS. 


A  crafty  thief  may  purloin  money  from  a  chest;  an 
impious  flame  may  destroy  paternal  Lares;  a  debtor  may 
deny  both  principal  and  interest ;  land  may  not  yield  crops 
in  return  for  the  seed  scattered  upon  it ;  frauds  may  be 
practised  on  a  steward  entrusted  with  your  household  purse : 
the  sea  may  overwhelm  ships  laden  with  merchandise. 
Whatever  is  given  to  friends  is  beyond  the  reach  of  Fortune ; 


108  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.       .  [cH. 

the  wealth  you  have  bestowed  is  the  only  wealth  you  can 
keep. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xliii. 

In  Dr  Johnson's  Juvenilia  is  a  Latin  translation  of  three  sen- 
tences, which  are  stated  to  be  inscribed  on  the  monument  of  John  of 
Doncaster : 

"What  I  gave,  that  I  have ; 

"What  I  spent,  that  I  had; 

What  I  left,  that  I  lost. 

In  Hearne's  Curious  Discourses  is  an  epitaph,  contributed  by 
Camden,  on  Mr  Lambe,  a  man  who  deservred  well  of  the  City  of 
London,  by  divers  charitable  deeds,  and  who  framed  this  epitaph  for 
himself : 

As  I  was,  so  be  ye; 

As  I  am,  ye  shall  be ; 

That   I  gave,  that  I  have ; 

That  I  spent,  that  I  had; 

Thus  I  end  all  my  cost; 

That  I  left,  that  I  lost. 

In  the  same  book  the  following  epigraph  is  contributed : 

Ho  !   who  lies  here  1 

Here  lies  the  old  Earl  of  Devonshire, 

And  Maude  his  wife,  that  was  full  dear; 

We  lived  together  fifty-five  year. 

What  we  gave,  that  we  have ; 

What  we  spent,  that  we  had. 

Thus  we  sum  up  all  our  cost, 

What  we  left,  that  we  lost. 

In  the  Port  Royal  Logic  (translated  by  Baynes),  Chapter  x.,  a 
kind  of  compound  propositions,  called  Exclusives,  is  treated  of,  being 
"  propositions  which  indicate  that  the  attribute  agrees  with  one  sub- 
ject, and  that  it  agrees  with  such  subject  only,  and  with  no  others ; 
whence  it  follows  that  they  contain  two  different  judgments,  and  are 
consequently  compound  in  meaning.  This  is  expressed  in  English  by 
the  word  alone,  or  some  other  like  it  (in  French,  il  n'y  a  que)."  An 
example  is  given  from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  Quas  dederis, 
solas  semper  habebis  opes. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  109 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  upon  Alms,  quotes  the  last  line  of 
Martial's  epigram  as  an  incentive  to  charity,  comparing  man  to  the 
Lord's  steward,  and  his  chest  to  the  Lord's  bank.  In  a  Discourse  on 
Friendship,  in  recommending  liberality  towards  friends,  he  quotes  the 
last  two  lines, 

Extra  fortunam  est  quicquid,  donatur  amicis; 
Quas  dederis,  solas  semper  habebis  opes. 

Melmoth,  in  his  notes  upon  Cicero  on  Friendship,  in  adverting  to 
a  passage  in  that  treatise  concerning  the  precarious  tenure  of  the 
favours  of  fortune,  and  neglect  of  procuring  therewith  the  treasures 
of  friendship,  observes,  "the  judicious  direction  of  wealth,  as  the 
most  productive  of  heartfelt  happiness,  is  that  which  Cicero  has  par- 
ticularly pointed  out  in  the  present  passage ;  and  if  a  philosopher 
should  not  be  credited,  let  a  poet  support  his  testimony."  After 
quoting  the  above  epigram  in  the  original,  Melmoth  gives  the  follow- 
ing poetical  version  : 

Some  felon-hand  may  steal  thy  gold  away; 

Or  flames  destructive  on  thy  mansion  prey. 

The  fraudful  debtor  may  thy  loan  deny; 

Or  blasted  fields  no  more  their  fruits  supply. 

The  am'rous  steward  to  adorn  his  dear, 

With  spoils  may  deck  her  from  thy  plunder'd  year. 

Thy  freighted  vessels,  ere  the  port  they  gain, 

O'erwhelm'd  by  storms,   may  sink  beneath  the  main : 

But  what  thou  giv'st  a  friend  for  friendship's  sake, 

Is  the  sole  wealth  which  fortune  ne'er  can  take. 


LXXVIIL 
PROCLAIMING  OBLIGATIONS. 

The  services  you  have  rendered  me  I  do  not  forget,  and 
will  always  keep  them  in  my  mind.  How  happens  it, 
Posthumus,  that  I  am  silent?  It  is  because  you  talk.  Do 
I  begin  to  expatiate  on  your  favours,  I  am  told,  "I  heard 


110  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

all  about  it  from  himself."  Some  things  are  not  handsomely 
performed  by  two;  one  person  is  enough  to  relate  kindness; 
if  you  wish  me  to  speak,  you  must  remain  silent.  The 
merit  of  gifts,  however  great  they  be,  is  lost  by  the  garrulity 
of  the  giver. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  liii. 

There  is  a  well-known  epigram  of  Prior,  in  which  is  lashed  the 

identical  vice  or  failing  censured  by  Martial,   and  which  may  not 

improbably  have  been  suggested  by  the  above  epigram;   it  may  be 

thought  very  inferior  to  Martial's,  both  in  good  feeling  and  good 

taste  : 

To  John  I  ow'd  great  obligation, 

But  John  unhappily  thought  fit 

To  publish  it   to  all  the  nation ; 

Sure  John  and  I  are  more  than  quit. 

Martial's  epigram  is  quoted  by  Jeremy  Taylor  in  a  Discourse  on 
the  Duties  of  Friendship,  as  indicating  that  kindness  to  a  friend  was 
not  a  fit  subject  for  publication. 


LXXIX. 
ENTERTAINING   COMPANION. 

That  men  of  rank  take  you  along  with  them  almost  by 
force  to  their  banquets,  to  porticos,  and  theatres;  and 
that  when  they  meet  you  they  have  pleasure  in  carrying 
you  in  their  vehicles,  and  going  along  with  you  to  the  same 
baths ; — let  not  this  puff  you  up  with  self-satisfaction,  Philo- 
musus;  all  this  is  because  you  are  entertaining,  not  because 
you  are  beloved. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  lxxv. 

Ben  Jonson  has  thus  imitated  the  above  epigram : 

TO    MIME. 

That  not  a  pair  of  friends  each  other  see, 
But  the  first  question  is,  when  one  saw  thee? 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  Ill 

That  there's  no  journey  set  or  thought  upon, 

To  Brentford,  Hackney,  Bow,  but  thou  mak'st  one. 

That  scarce  the  town  designeth  any  feast 

To  which  thou'rt  not  a  week  bespoke  a  guest. 

That  still  thou  art  made  the  supper's  flag,  the  drum, 

The  very  call  to  make  all  others  come: 

Think'st  thou,  Mime!  this  is  great?  or  that  they  strive 

Whose  noise  shall  keep  thy  miming  most  alive1? 

Whilst  thou  dost  raise  some  player  from 'the  grave, 

Out-dance  the  babion,  or  outbrast  the  brave, 

Or,  mounted  on  a  stool,  thy  face  doth  hit 

On  some  new  gesture  that's  imputed  wit: 

O  run  not  proud  of  this.     Yet  take  thy  due, 

Thou  dost  out-zany  Cokely,  Pod;  nay  Gue, 

And  thine  own  Goryat  too;  but,  would' st  thou  see, 

Men  love  thee  not  for  this,  they  laugh  at  thee. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies,  writes  of  Coryat,  who  was  too  little 
appreciated  as  a  traveller  in  his  own  day,  "  Sweet-meats  and  Coryat 
made  up  the  last  course  at  all  entertainments.  Indeed,  he  was  the 
courtiers'  anvil  to  try  their  wits  upon,  and  sometimes  this  anvil 
returned  the  hammers  as  hard  knocks  as  it  received." 

Macilente,  a  Dramatis  persona,  in  Ben  Jonson's  Play  of  Every 
Man  out  of  his  Humour,  is  described  in  the  Prologue  as  "  one  whose 
company  is  desired  of  all  men,  but  beloved  of  none." 


LXXX. 

A   MODEL   CHARACTER 

If  there  be  one  to  be  numbered  among  rare  friends, 
such  as  ancient  fidelity  and  ancient  fame  have  signalised; 
one  who  is  imbued  with  the  literature  of  the  Athenian  and 
Latian  Minerva;  one  whose  goodness  is  enhanced  by  sim- 
plicity ;  one  who  is  the  guardian  of  rectitude,  and  the  prac- 
tiser  of  honesty;  one  who  offers  no  secret  prayers  to  the  Gods; 


112  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

one  whose  reliance  is  upon  the  strength  of  a  great  mind; — 
I  will  stake  my  life,  that  it  is  Decianus. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xl. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Set  Forms  of  Prayer,  quotes 
from  the  above  epigram,  the  line,  Et  nihil  arcano  qui  roget  ore  Deos, 
observing,  that  "by  the  law  of  Moses  there  were  no  rules  for  in- 
structing the  Synagogue  how  to  pray.  They  had  not  known  how  to 
have  composed  an  office  for  the  daily  service  of  the  temple,  without 
danger  of  asking  things  needless,  vain,  or  impious :  such  as  were  the 
prayers  in  the  Roman  closets,  that  he  was  a  good  man  who  would  not 
own  them."  The  same  sentiment  on  secret  prayers  is  expressed  by 
Persius,  who  has  therein  furnished  a  motto  for  the  coat  of  arms  of  the 
Earls  Aylesford,  viz.  aperto  vivere  voto. 


LXXXI. 

CHANGES  OF   CHARACTER. 

Priscus!  you  often  ask  me  what  would  be  my  future 
conduct,  if  I  were  made  suddenly  rich  or  powerful?  Who 
can  be  competent  to  judge  of  his  future  character  under 
such  contingencies?  Tell  me,  if  you  were  metamorphosed 
into  a  lion,  what  kind  of  a  lion  you  would  be? — Lib.  xn. 
Ep.  xciv. 

Johnson  takes  the  above  epigram  for  his  motto  of  the  172nd 
Number  of  the  Rambler,  with  the  following  version: 

Priscus!  you've  often  ask'd  me  how  I'd  live, 
Should  Fate  at  once  both  wealth  and  honour  give? 
What  soul  his  future  conduct  can  foresee? 
Tell  me  what  sort  of  lion  you  would  be. 

The  Paper  contains  sagacious  reflections  on  the  subject  of  a  change 
of  fortune  causing  a  change  of  manners.  Dr  Johnson  observes, 
that  "it  is  generally  agreed  that  few  men  are  made  better  by  afflu- 
ence or  exaltation ;  and  that  the  powers  of  the  mind,  when  they  are 
unbounded  and  expanded  by  the  sunshine  of  felicity  more  frequently 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  113 

luxuriate  into  follies,  than  blossom  into  goodness."     The  Paper  con- 
tains a  variety  of  judicious  reflections  on  the  effect  of  a  change  of 
circumstances  upon  character. 
The  last  line  of  the  epigram : 

Die  mihi,  si  fias  tu  leo,  qualis  eris: 

is  taken  by  Addison  as  a  motto  for  the  13th  Number  of  the  Spectator , 
not  for  the  purpose  of  developing  its  figurative  import,  but  only  as  a 
peg,  on  account  of  its  terseness ;  the  Paper  relating  to  an  exhibition 
at  the  Haymarket  Theatre  of  a  contest  with  a  real  or  sham  lion,  by 
way  of  showing,  as  Addison  says,  what  were  the  public  entertain- 
ments of  the  politer  part  of  Great  Britain. 


LXXXIL 

FAVOURITE   OF   PROVIDENCE. 

Where  the  way  leads  to  the  towers  of  Hercules- 
worshipping  Tivoli,  and  the  snow-white  Albula  foams  with 
sulphureous  streams,  the  fourth  mile-stone  marks  a  country- 
seat  and  a  sacred  grove,  and  pleasure-grounds  beloved  by 
the  Muses.  Here  once  an  ancient  portico  afforded  a  plea- 
sant shade  in  summer-time,  a  portico  how  nearly  the  daring 
perpetrator  of  a  novel  crime!  For  suddenly  it  collapsed, 
and  fell  just  as  Regulus  was  about  to  be  carried  under  it 
in  his  chariot  drawn  with  four  horses.  Forsooth,  Fortune 
dreaded  our  complaints,  and  felt  itself  not  a  match  for  the 
magnitude  of  indignation  which  would  have  overpowered 
her.  Now  the  accident  affords  pleasure ;  for  important 
indeed  is  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  such  a  peril: 
the  portico,  so  long  as  it  stood,  could  not  have  testified 
the  provident  care  of  the  Gods.  (Stantia  non  poterant 
tecta  probare  Deos.) — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xm. 

Several  of  the  letters  of  Pliny,  and  several  epigrams  of  Martial 
are  upon  the  subject  of  Regulus,  the  contrast  of  which  is  not  without 
mart.  .  i 


114  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

edification.  The  only  occasion  on  which  Pliny  speaks  at  all  favour- 
ably of  Regulus  is  in  mentioning  his  death,  and  that  is  on  account  of 
his  having  honoured  eloquence:  Pliny  states  that  it  was  Regulus's 
custom  to  anoint  his  right  or  left  eye,  and  to  wear  a  white  patch 
over  one  side  or  other  of  his  forehead,  according  as  he  was  to  plead 
either  for  the  plaintiff  or  defendant ;  and  that  he  used  to  consult  the 
soothsayers  upon  the  event  of  every  cause  in  which  he  was  concerned 
as  an  advocate;  all  which,  Pliny  says,  proceeded  from  that  high 
veneration  which  Regulus  paid  to  eloquence.  Nevertheless,  he  adds, 
Regulus  did  well  to  depart  this  life,  though  he  would  have  done  much 
better  had  he  made  his  exit  sooner. 

Melmoth,  in  a  note  to  his  translation  of  a  letter  of  Pliny,  con- 
trasts the  character  of  Regulus  as  drawn  by  Pliny  and  by  Martial; 
observing  that  "  poets,  especially  needy  ones,  such  as  we  know  Martial 
was,    are   not   generally  the   most   faithful   painters  in  this  way." 
Melmoth  gives  the  following  version  of  Martial's  epigram: 
Where  leads  the  way  to  Tibur's  cooling  tow'rs, 
And  snow-white  Albula  sulphureous  pours, 
A  villa  stands,  from  Rome  a  little  space; 
And  every  Muse  delights  to  haunt  the  place. 
Here  once  a  Portic  lent  her  grateful  shade; 
Alas!  how  near  to  impious  guilt  betray'd! 
Sudden  it  fell;   what  time  the  steeds  convey 
Safe  from  her  nodding  walls  great  Regulus  away. 
To  crush  that  head  not  even  fortune  dar'd, 
And  the  world's  general  indignation  fear'd. 
Blest  be  the  ruin,  be  the  danger  blest! 
The  standing  pile  had  ne'er  the  Gods  confest. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Righteous  Cause  Oppressed, 
quotes  the  two  concluding  lines  of  the  above  epigram,  with  a  view  to 
corroborate  St  Paul's  argument,  "  For  if  in  this  life  only  we  have 
hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  He  considers 
the  "  state  of  the  afflicted  godly  to  be  a  mercy  great  in  proportion  to 
the  greatness  of  that  reward  which  such  afflictions  come  to  prove  and 
to  secure."  In  a  Funeral  Sermon  on  the  Lord  Primate,  he  observes, 
"  The  rebellion  brealdng  out,  the  Bishop  went  to  his  charge  at  Deny, 
and,  because  he  was  under  the  defence  of  walls,  that  execrable  traitor, 
Sir  Phelim   O'lSTeale,  had  a  snare  to  bring  him  to  a  dishonourable 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  115 

death.  For  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Bishop,  in  which  he  pretended 
intelligence  between  them,  and  desired  that,  according  to  their  former 
agreement,  such  a  gate  should  be  delivered  to  him.  The  messenger 
was  not  advised  to  be  cautious,  nor  was  he  at  all  instructed  in  the 
art  of  secrecy;  for  it  was  intended  that  he  should  be  intercepted, 
searched,  and  hanged  for  aught  was  cared :  but  the  arrow  was  shot 
against  the  Bishop,  that  he  might  be  accused  of  base  conspiracy,  and 
die  with  shame  and  dishonour.  However,  here  God  manifested  his 
mighty  care  of  his  servants;  he  was  pleased  to  send  into  the  heart  of 
the  messenger  such  an  affrightment,  that  he  ran  away  with  the  letter, 
and  never  durst  come  near  the  town  to  deliver  it.  Nothing  could 
prove  how  dear  that  sacred  life  was  to  God  as  his  rescue  from  such  a 
design.     Stantia  non  poterant  tecta  probare  fieos" 


LXXXIII. 

PHYSIOGNOMY. 


Red  hair,  black  face,  short  legs,  blear  eyes,  Zoilus,  with 
these,  if  you  are  good,  you  are  a  standing  marvel. — Lib.  xn. 
Ep.  LIV. 

Addison,  in  the  86th  number  of  the  Spectator,  writes,  "Those 
who  have  established  physiognomy  into  an  art,  and  laid  down  rules 
for  judging  men's  tempers  by  their  faces,  have  regarded  the  features 
much  more  than  the  air.  Martial  has  a  pretty  epigram  on  this  sub- 
ject."   He  then  quotes  the  above  epigram  with  the  following  version : 

Thy  beard  and  head  are  of  a  different  dye ; 
Short  of  one  foot,  distorted  in  an  eye: 
With  all  these  tokens  of  a  knave  complete, 
Should' st  thou  be  honest,  thou'rt  a  devilish  cheat. 

The  Paper  contains  excellent  remarks  on  "  a  man  giving  the  lie 
to  his  face,"  which  Addison  illustrates  by  the  example  of  Socrates, 
whom  a  physiognomist  pronounced  to  be  the  "most  libidinous  and 
drunken  old  fellow  he  had  ever  met  with  in  the  course  of  his  whole 


116  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

life;"  whereupon  Socrates  affirmed  that  he  had  been  naturally  in- 
clined to  the  vices  imputed,  but  that  he  had  conquered  his  dis- 
positions to  them  by  the  dictates  of  philosophy.  The  Paper  concludes 
with  cautions  against  giving  too  much  credit  to  a  man's  outward 
appearance,  and  a  reference  is  made  to  Dr  More's  Ethics,  in  which  an 
inclination  to  take  a  prejudice  against  a  man  on  account  of  his  looks 
is  reckoned  among  the  smaller  vices  in  morality,  and  a  name  is  given 
to  it  of  Prosopolepsia, 


LXXXIV. 

LOVED,  WHEN  UNSEEN. 

You  are  pleasing  when  you  are  touched,  you  are  pleasing 
when  you  are  heard;  if  you  were  not  seen,  you  would  be 
altogether  pleasing.  The  sight  of  you  destroys  all  pleasure. — 
Lib.  vii.  Ep.  c. 

Steele,  in  the  52nd  number  of  the  Spectator,  writes  of  a  proposal 
of  marriage  between  the  author  of  the  Paper  and  one  Hecatissa,  "  I 
believe  I  shall  set  my  heart  upon  her,  and  think  never  the  worse 
of  my  mistress  because  a  smart  fellow,  as  he  thought  himself,  writ 
against  her;  it  does  but  the  more  recommend  her  to  me.  At  the 
same  time  I  cannot  but  discover  that  his  malice  is  stolen  from 
Martial. 

Tacta  places,  audita  places,  si  non  videare, 
Tota  places :  neutro,  si  videare,  places. 

Whilst  in  the  dark  on  thy  soft  hand  I  hung, 
And  heard  the  tempting  Siren  in  thy  tongue, 
What  flames,  what  darts,  what  anguish  I  endur'd, 
But  when  the  candle  enter'd,  I  was  cur'd." 

Howel,  in  his  Familiar  Letters,  (tern.  Jac.  I.)  writes  of  a  lady, 
"  I  think  Clotho  had  her  fingers  smutted  in  snuffing  the  candle,  when 
she  began  to  spin  the  thread  of  that  lady's  life,  and  Lachesis  frowned 
in  twisting  it  up;  but  Aglaia,  with  the  rest  of  the  Graces,  were  in  a 
good  humour  when  they  formed  her  inner  parts.  A  blind  man  is 
fittest  to  hear  her  sing ;  one  would  take  delight  to  see  her  dance,  if 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  117 

masked ;  and  it  would  please  you  to  discourse  with  her  in  the  dark, 
for  then  she  is  best  company,  if  your  imagination  can  forbear  to  run 
upon  her  face.  When  you  marry,  I  wish  you  such  an  inside  of  a 
wife ;  but  from  such  an  outward  physiognomy  the  Lord  deliver  you." 
Mallet  writes  : 

Nerina's  angel-voice  delights, 

Nerina's  devil-face  affrights ; 

How  whimsical  her  Strephon's  fate  ! 

Condemn'd  at  once  to  like  and  hate. 

But,  be  she  cruel,  be  she  kind, 

Love,  make  her  dumb,  or  make  him  blind  ! 
Martial  advises  a  lady,  better  seen  than  heard,  to  beware  of  the 
.ZEdile,  Portentum  est,  quoties  ccepit  imago 


LXXXV. 

NOT  TO  BE  LIVED  WITH,  NOB,  LIVED  WITHOUT. 

Difficult  and  easy,  churlish  and  pleasing;  you  are  all 
these,  and  yet  one  person;  there  is  no  living  with  thee,  nor 
without  thee  {nee  tecum  possum  vivere,  nee  sine  te). — 
Lib.  xii.  Ep.  xlyii. 

Addison,  in  the  68th  number  of  the  Spectator,  observes  that 
several  persons  are  in  some  certain  periods  of  their  lives  inexpressibly 
agreeable,  and,  in  others,  as  odious  and  detestable;  and  writes,  "Mar- 
tial has  given  us  a  very  pretty  picture  of  one  of  this  species  in  the 
following  epigram."  He  refers  to  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  of 
which  he  furnishes  a  poetical  version  : 

In  all  thy  humours,  whether  grave  or  mellow, 
Thou'rt  such  a  touchy,  testy,  pleasant  fellow; 
Hast  so  much  wit  and  mirth,  and  spleen  about  thee, 
There  is  no  living  with  thee,  or  without  thee. 
Garrick's    character,    as   portrayed    in    Goldsmith's   poem   called 
Retaliation,  may,  probably,  have  been  suggested  by  the  above  epi- 
gram ;  it  is,  at  all  events,  an  illustration  of  it : 

Our  Garrick's  a  salad ;  for  in  him  we  see       , 
Oil,  vinegar,  sugar,  and  saltness  agree. 


118  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

And  again  : 

With  no  reason  on  earth  to  go  out  of  his  way, 
He  turn'd,  and  he  varied  fall  ten  times  a  day  ; 

•X-  *  *  #  *  * 

He  cast  off  his  friends,  like  a  huntsman  his  pack, 

For  he  knew  when  he  pleas'd  he  could  whistle  them  back. 

Pope,  in  a  letter  to  Swift,  dated  August  22,  1726,  writing  of 
some  cups  which  Swift  had  given  him,  and  affecting  displeasure  at 
his  hospitality  to  the  Dean  being  acknowledged  by  a  present,  ex- 
presses himself:  "Indeed  you  are  engraven  elsewhere  than  on  the 
cups  you  sent  me  (with  so  kind  an  inscription),  and  I  might  throw 
them  into  the  Thames  without  any  injury  to  the  giver.  I  am  not 
pleased  with  them,  but  take  them  very  kindly  too ;  and  had  I  sus- 
pected any  such  usage  from  you,  I  should  have  enjoyed  your  company 
less  than  I  really  did,  for  at  this  rate  I  may  say,  Nee  tecum  possum 
vivere,  nee  sine  te." 

Steele,  in  a  love-letter  to  the  lady  whom  he  afterwards  married, 

writes  : 

O  Love ! 

A  thousand  torments  dwell  about  thee, 

Yet  who  would  live,  to  live  without  thee? 

And  Prior  : 

Wretched  when  from  thee,  vexed  when  nigh, 

I  with  thee,  or  without  thee,  die.     ' 


LXXXVI. 

ANTIPATHY. 


I  love  you  not,  Sabidis,  I  cannot  tell  why.    This  only 
can  I  tell,  I  love  you  not. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xxxiii. 

The  following   French  translation  has  been  given  of  this  well- 
known  epigram  : 

Je  ne  vous  aime  pas,  Hylas, 
Je  n'en  saurois  dire  la  cause, 
Je  sais  seulement  une  chose, 
C'est  que  je  ne  vous  aime  pas. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  119 

The  epigram  has  been  introduced  into  a  Parliamentary  debate  by 
Sheridan,  who  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  These  gentlemen  seem  as 
if  they  considered  the  Ministers,  now  the  drudgery  of  signing  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  is  done,  as  fundi  officio,  and  as  if  they  ought  to 
go  out;  as  if  one  was  a  mere  goose-quill,  and  the  other  a  stick  of 
sealing-wax,  which  are  done  with  and  ought  to  be  thrown  under  the 
table.  Perhaps  this  capricious  dislike  cannot  be  better  exemplified 
than  by  the  sentiment  expressed  in  the  well-known  epigram  of  Mar- 
tial, which  has  been  thus  parodied  : 

I  do  not  like  thee,  Dr  Fell, 

The  reason  why  I  cannot  tell ; 

But  this,  I'm  sure,  I  know  full  well, 

I  do  not  like  thee,  Dr  Fell." 
The  Jesuit  editor  finds  an  equivoke  in  the  expression  Non  possum 
dicere  quare ;  he  calls  the  epigram  argutum  etfelle  imbutum. 


LXXXVII. 

PLEASED  BY  NONE. 


Aulus!  you  cannot,  by  any  strictness  of  morals,  induce 
Mamercus  to  speak  well  of  you.  You  may  surpass  in  piety 
the  Curtian  brothers,  the  Nervas  in  inoffensiveness,  the 
Rufini  in  courtesy,  the  Marci  in  probity,  the  Maurici  in 
equity,  the  Reguli  in  oratory,  the  Pauli  in  jocularity;  he 
gnaws  everything  with  his  envious  teeth  (rubiginosis).  You, 
perhaps,  call  Mamercus  a  malignant  man  ;  I  call  a  man 
whom  nobody  pleases,  a  wretch. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xxix. 

Fielding,  in  a  tract  on  the  Characters  of  Men,  quotes  from  the 
above  epigram  the  lines, 

Ut  bene  loquatur,  sentiatque  Mamercus, 

Efhcere  nullis,  Aule,  moribus  possis; 
observing  that  Isaiah  saith,  "  Woe  unto  them  that  call  good  evil,  and 
evil  good ;"  and  Dr  Smith,  "  Detraction  is  that  arrow  drawn  o\it  of 


120  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

the  devil's  quiver,  which  is  always  flying  about,  and  doing  exe- 
cution in  the  dark."  The  last  two  lines  of  the  epigram  are  quoted 
by  Jeremy  Taylor  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Excellence  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  as  showing  that  a  peevish  man  is  a  self-tormentor.  The 
metaphorical  expression  rubiginosis  dentibus  is  copied  literally  by  Ben 
Jonson  in  the  Prologue  to  his  play,  called  the  Poetaster ;  he  makes 
Envy  command  her  satellites,  "  Show  your  rusty  teeth  at  every  word, 
and  help  to  damn  the  author." 


LXXXVIII. 
NURSERY  GOVERNOR. 

You  rocked  my  cradle,  Charidemus,  you  had  my  youth 
in  charge,  and  were  the  director  of  my  boyish  days.  Now 
my  napkins  look  black  with  the  shavings  of  my  beard: 
nevertheless,  I  have  not  grown  to  you.  My  bailiff  dreads 
you,  my  steward  and  my  whole  household  is  terrified  at  you : 
you  take  every  kind  of  liberty,  but  allow  me  none.  You 
catch  up  my  words  and  actions,  you  make  comments  and 
complaints,  you  draw  sighs,  and  your  anger  scarcely  allows 
your  hand  to  refrain  from  a  ferule.  If  I  put  on  a  Tyrian 
garment,  or  anoint  my  hair,  you  exclaim,  "Your  Father 
never  did  the  like."  With  a  contracted  brow  you  number 
my  cups  of  wine,  as  if  they  were  drawn  from  a  cask  in  your 
own  cellar.  Cease :  I  cannot  endure  a  Cato  in  my  freed-man. 
— Lib,  xi.  Ep.  xl. 

Part  of  this  epigram  is  the  motto  of  the  84fch  number  of  the  Ram- 
bler, with  the  following  version  : 

You  rock'd  my  cradle,  were  my  guide 
In  youth,  still  tending  to  my  side. 
But  now,  dear  Sir,  my  beard  is  grown; 
Still  I'm  a  child  to  thee  alone. 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  121 

Our  steward,  butler,  cook,  and  all 

You  fright,  nay,  e'en  the  very  wall ; 

You  pry  and  frown,  and  growl  and  chide, 

And  scarce  will  lay  the  rod  aside. 
The  Paper  contains  a  lively  letter  from  Myrtilla,  a  girl  passed  the 
age  of  sixteen,  who  is  resolved  no  longer  to  be  treated  as  a  child,  to 
ask  advice,  or  give  accounts ;  she  wishes  the  Rambler  to  state  "the 
time  at  which  young  ladies  may  judge  for  themselves,  which  I  am 
sure  you  cannot  but  think  ought  to  begin  before  sixteen;  if  you  are 
inclined  to  delay  it  longer,  I  shall  have  very  little  regard  for  your 
opinion."     The  letter  has  a  "  P.  S.  Remember  I  am  past  sixteen." 


LXXXIX. 

UNSEASONABLE  ADVICE. 

I  asked  Caius  to  lend  me  twenty  sestertia,  a  sum  which 
could  not  weigh  heavy  on  him,  even  if  he  had  been  asked 
to  give  and  not  to  lend ;  for  he  was  my  old  companion,  and 
had  been  fortunate  in  life ;  and  his  chest  can  scarcely  press 
down  his  overflowing  riches.  He  replied  to  me:  "You  will 
become  wealthy  if  you  will  take  to  pleading  causes."  Caius ! 
give  me  what  I  ask  for,  I  do  not  ask  for  advice. — Lib.  n. 
Ep.  xxx. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Lukewarmness,  quotes  the  line, 

Quod  peto  da,  Cai,  non  peto  consilium. 

Upon  which  he  observes,  that  "  he  who  gave  his  friend  counsel  to 
study  the  law,  when  he  desired  to  borrow  twenty  pounds,  was  not  so 
friendly  in  his  counsel  as  he  was  useless  in  his  charity.  Spiritual  acts 
can  cure  a  spiritual  malady;  but,  if  my  body  needs  relief,  you  cannot 
feed  me  with  diagrams,  nor  clothe  me  with  Euclid's  Elements;  you 
must  minister  a  real  supply  by  a  corporeal  charity  to  my  corporeal 
necessity." 


122  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

xc. 

INDISCRIMINATE  PRAISE. 

Callistratus,  from  unwillingness  to  distinguish  pre- 
eminent merit,  praises  every  one.  Who  can  appear  good 
to  that  person  to  whom  nobody  appears  bad? — Lib.  xn. 
Ep.  LXXXII. 

Jeremy  Taylor  quotes  this  epigram,  and  observes  upon  it,  that 
"  to  give  to  vice  any  of  the  treatments  or  rewards  of  virtue  is  a  treble 
mischief.  The  gift  or  reward  is  lost;  an  injury  is  done  to  virtue; 
evil  men  are  encouraged  in  their  evil  courses." 

Montaigne,  in  an  Essay  on  the  Rewards  of  Honour,  quotes  from 
the  above  epigram  the  line  Cui  malus  est  nemo,  quis  bonus  esse  potest  ? 
observing  of  honour,  that  it  is  "  un  privilege  qui  tire  sa  principale 
essence  de  la  rarite,  et  la  vertu  mesme."  Montaigne's  translator  ren- 
ders the  line  quoted  by  him, 

To  whom  none  seemeth  ill,  none  good  can  seem. 


XCI. 

AFFECTATION  OF  REAL  POVERTY. 

Cinna  wishes  to  appear  poor,  and  is  poor. — Lib.  vm. 
Ep.  xix. 

The  modern  uses  of  the  above  epigram  have  been  of  a  literary 
character.  Ben  Jonson,  in  his  tract  which  he  calls  Discoveries,  pro- 
poses a  question,  "What  is  a  poem?"  In  answer  to  which  he  says, 
that  "sometimes  one  verse  alone  makes  a  perfect  poem;"  and  he 
adduces,  as  an  instance  in  point,  the  verse  concerning  Cinna's  affected, 
and  no  less  real  than  affected,  poverty. 

Addison,  in  the  fourth  number  of  the  Whig-Examiner,  in  which 
he  treats  of  Nonsense,  in  distinguishing  between  high  and  low  nonsense, 
observes,  "Low  nonsense  is  the  talent  of  a  cold  phlegmatic  temper,  that, 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  123 

in  a  poor  dispirited  style,  creeps  along  servilely  through  darkness  and 
confusion.  A  writer  of  this  complexion  gropes  his  way  softly  amongst 
self-contradictions,  and  grovels  in  absurdities.  Pauper  videri  vult,  et 
est  pauper.     He  has  neither  wit  nor  sense,  and  pretends  to  none." 

Dryden,  in  his  Essay  on  Dramatic  Poetry,  adverting  to  one  of  the 
authors  of  his  day,  writes,  "  His  poetry  neither  has  wit  in  it,  nor 
seems  to  have  it ;  like  him  in  Martial,  Pauper  videri  Cinna  vult,  et 
est  pauper" 

Colley  Cibber,  at  the  commencement  of  his  Autobiography,  depre- 
cates the  animadversions  of  the  critics,  by  an  affected  confession  of  his 
literary  failings ;  he  writes  that  "  Sir  Critic  will  say  this  very  confes- 
sion is  no  more  a  sign  of  my  modesty  than  it  is  a  proof  of  my  judg- 
ment;  that,  in  short,  he  may  roundly  tell  me"  (making  a  pun  and 
false  quantity)  Pauper  videri  Cibber  vult,  et  est  pauper. 

This  poem  the  laureat  Cibber  thus  translates  : 

When  humble  Cinna  cries,  I'm  poor  and  low, 
You  may  believe  him — he  is  really  so. 


XCII. 
SUFFICIENT   FORTUNE. 

Africanus  possesses  a  hundred  thousand  sesterces,  but 
is  always  striving  by  servility  to  acquire  more.  Fortune 
gives  too  much  to  many,  enough  to  none. — Lib.  xn.  Ep.  x. 

Harrington,  Queen  Elizabeth's  godson,  wrote  an  epigram  copied 
from  the  above  one  of  Martial : 

Fortune,  men  say,  doth  give  too  much  to  many, 

But  yet  she  never  gave  enough  to  any. 
There  is  a  French  epigram,  in  which  the  discontent  of  every  one 
with  his  fortune  is  noticed,  and  is  made  the  basis  of  a  more  pointed 
antithesis  than  that  of  Martial : 

L' amour  propre  est,  helas!    le  plus  sot  des  amours, 
Cependant  des  erreurs  il  est  la  plus  commune, 


124  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Quelque  puissant  qu'on  soit  en  richesse,  en  credit, 
Quelque  mauvais  succes  qu'ait  tant  ce  qu'on  ecrit, 

Kul  n'est  content  de  sa  fortune, 

Ni  mecontent  de  son  esprit. 


XCIII. 
BUY   ALL,   SELL   ALL. 


Castor,  you  buy  all;  by  which  means  you  will  end  in 
selling  all. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xcvu. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  his  Discoveries,  gives  this  epigram,  Omnia, 
Castor,  emis :  sic  fiet,  ut  omnia  vendas,  as  an  instance  of  a  perfect 
poem  "being  comprised  in  a  single  verse.  Dr  Hodgson  attempted  to 
translate  the  epigram  thus : 

Why,  Tom,  you  purchase  ev'ry  thing!    'tis  well; 
Who  can  deny  you'll  have  the  more  to  sell? 
He  adds,  "  A  very  poor  translation,  it  must  be  confessed,  as  it  is  far 
from  expressing  the  antithesis  of  general  purchaser  and  general  auc- 
tioneer contained  in  the  original." 

The  motto  of  the  91st  Number  of  the  Connoisseur,  is, 
Omnia  Castor  emit,  sic  net,  ut  omnia  vended 
Of  which  the  following  ridiculous  paraphrase  is  given: 
Such  bargains  purchas'd  by  his  dear, 

Her  taste  at  auctions  showing, 
Himself  must  turn  an  Auctioneer — 
A  going,  a  going,  a  going! 

The  Paper  consists  of  a  letter,  in  which  the  writer  complains  of 
his  wife,  who  "  natters  herself  that  she  has  the  art  of  beating  down 
every  thing  so  very  low,  that  she  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of 

buying  such  extraordinary  pennyworths She  is  one   of  those 

prudent  good  ladies,  who  will  purchase  any  thing  of  which  they  have 
no  need,  merely  because  they  can  have  it  a  bargain."  After  a  variety 
of  details  illustrative  of  his  wife's  mania  for  bargaining,  the  writer 
complains  that  his  house  has  become  "  a  repository  for  the  refuse  of 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  125 

sales  and  auctions;"  he  proposes  to  get  rid  of  his  wife's  purchases  by- 
making  an  auction  himself.  The  Paper  concludes  with  a  humorous 
catalogue  of  the  writer's  effects  that  had  been  bought,  to  be  sold. 


XCIY. 

COMPLICATED   YICES. 


Apicius  !  you  bestowed  twice  three  hundred  thousand 
sesterces  on  your  belly  ;  but,  notwithstanding,  there  remained 
a  hundred  thousand  more  at  your  disposal.  In  this  pre- 
dicament you  became  alarmed  at  the  danger  of  wanting 
food  and  drink ;  so  you  took,  for  your  last  draught,  a  potion 
of  poison.  I  say,  Apicius!  you  were  never  more  gluttonous 
than  in  your  own  suicide. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  xxn. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Sins  Mortal  and  Venial,  writes, 
in  reference  to  the  above  epigram,  "And  Apicius  killing  himself 
when  he  supposed  his  estate  would  not  maintain  his  luxury,  was  not 
only  a  self-murderer,  but  a  gluttonous  person  in  his  death : 

Nil  est,  Apici,  te  gulosius  factum. 

So  that  the  greatness  of  sins  is  in  most  instances  by  extension  and 
accumulation.  He  is  a  greater  sinner  who  sins  often  in  the  same 
instance  than  he  who  sins  seldom;  and  the  same  of  him  who  sins 
such  sins  as  are  complicated  and  entangled  like  the  twinings  of  com- 
bining serpents." 


xcv. 

FEIGNED   TEARS. 


Gellia,  when  she  is  alone,  does  not  lament  the  loss  of 
her  father.    If  any  one  be  present,  her  bidden  tears  gush 


126  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

forth.  A  person  does  not  grieve  who  seeks  for  praise ;  his 
is  real  sorrow  who  grieves  without  a  witness. — Lib.  I.  Ep. 
xxxiv. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Penal  Laivs,  treats  of  "  Lying 
and  deceiving  by  signs  not  vocal;"  lie  instances  the  dissembling  of 
the  passion  of  grief,  and  he  observes,  "  So  did  Gellia  in  the  epigram ; 
they  are  full  of  tears  in  company,  but  are  pleased  well  enough  in  their 
retirements."  And,  again,  in  a  Discourse  on  Ecclesiastical  Penance, 
he  observes,  that  "  in  all  inquiries  concerning  penitential  sorrow,  we 
must  be  careful  not  to  take  account  of  our  sorrow  by  the  measures  of 
sense,  but  of  religion.  Indeed,  some  persons  can  command  their 
tears,  as  Gellia  in  the  epigram.  She  could  cry  when  company  was 
there  to  observe  her  weeping  for  her  father,  and  so  can  some  orators 
and  many  hypocrites :  they  command  tears,  but  sorrow  is  no  more 
to  be  commanded  than  hunger." 


XCVI. 
SIMULATED   COMPLAINTS. 

C^lius,  when  he  could  no  longer  endure  the  running 
from  place  to  place  during  the  whole  morning  (Discursus 
varios,  vagumque  mane,)  and  the  pride,  and  the  aves  (salu- 
tations) of  men  in  power,  begins  to  simulate  the  gout.  To 
give  to  his  assumed  complaint  an  appearance  of  greater  pro- 
bability, he  lubricates  and  bandages  his  healthy  legs,  and 
he  walks  with  a  hobbling  pace.  How  great  is  the  efficacy 
of  care  and  art  in  feigning  pain !  Cselius  has  ceased  to 
simulate  the  gout. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xxxviii. 

Montaigne,  in  a  chapter  of  his  Essays  entitled  De  ne  contrefaire  le 
Malade,  adducing  several  curious  instances  of  simulated  complaints 
turning  out  real,  such  as  of  a  man  wearing  a  patch  over  one  eye  in 
order  to  disguise  himself  during  the  proscription  of  the  Triumvirate, 
writes,  "II  y  a  un  Epigramme  en  Martial  qui  est  des  bons  (car  il  y  en 


III. J  GENERAL    LIFE.  127 

a  chez  lui  de  toutes  sortes)  oil  il  recite  plaisamment  Fliistoire  de  Celius, 
qui  pour  fuir  a  faire  la  cour  a  quelques  grands  a  Rome,  se  trouver  a 
leur  lever,  les  assister,  et  les  suivre,  fit  la  mine  d'avoir  la  goutte,  et 
pour  rendre  son  excuse  plus  vraisemblable,  se  faisoit  oindre  les 
jambes,  les  avoit  envelopees,  et  contrefaisoit  entierement  le  port,  et  la 
contenaoce  d'un  gouteux.  En  fin  la  feinte  lui  fit  ce  plaisir  de  le 
rendre  tout-a-fait : 

Quantum  cura  potest  et  ars  doloris! 

Desit  fingere  Cselius  podagram." 

Which  his  translator  renders : 

The  power  of  counterfeiting  is  so  great, 
Cselius  has  ceas'd  the  gout  to  counterfeit. 

Montaigne  observes,  as  to  the  probability  of  the  story,  that  idle- 
ness, and  the  heats  of  ligatures  and  plaisters  may  very  well  have 
brought  some  gouty  humour  upon  the  dissembler  of  Martial. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Sickness  Safe  and  Holy,  quotes 
the  same  two  lines  quoted  by  Montaigne  from  Martial's  epigram.  He 
writes,  "  Cselius  counterfeited  the  gout  and  all*  its  circumstances  and 
pains,  its  dressings,  and  arts  of  remedy,  and  complaints,  till,  at  last, 
the  gout  really  entered,  and  spoiled  the  pageantry.  His  acts  of  dis- 
simulation were  so  witty  that  they  put  life  and  motion  into  the  very 
image  of  the  disease;  he  made  the  very  picture  to  sigh  and  groan. 
We  should  not  counterfeit  sickness;  for  he  that  is  careful  of  his 
passage  into  sickness  will  think  himself  concerned  that  he  fall  not 
into  it  through  a  trap-door," 


XCVII. 

DISINHERITED,    BY   INHERITING. 

Philomusus!  your  father  made  you  an  allowance  at  the 
rate  of  two  thousand  sestertia  for  every  month  ;  but  fear- 
ing that  you  would  spend  it  the  moment  you  had  it,  he 
divided  his  monthly  allowance  into  daily  payments.  Your 
father  is  recently  dead,  and  has  left  you  the  whole  of  his 


128  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

fortune.  Surely  in  doing  so  he  has  disinherited  you.  (Instead 
of  a  daily  stipend,  you  will  not  receive  a  farthing  after 
spending  your  patrimony,  which,  as  might  have  been  antici- 
pated, you  have  utterly  wasted  the  moment  after  you  ob- 
tained it.) — Lib.  in.  Ep.  x. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Apples  of  Sodom,  writes,  "  Philomusus  was 
a  wild  young  fellow  in  Domitian's  time ;  and  he  was  hard  put  to  it 
to  make  a  large  pension  to  maintain  his  lust  and  luxury,  and  he  was 
every  month  put  to  beggarly  acts  to  feed  his  crimes.  But  when  his 
father  died  and  left  him  all,  he  disinherited  himself,  for  he  spent  it 
all,  though  he  knew  he  was  to  suffer  that  trouble  always  which 
vexed  his  lustful  soul  in  the  frequent  periods  of  his  violent  want." 

Raderus,  a  Jesuit,  in  his  excellent  edition  of  Martial,  observes  of 
this  epigram,  Quis  hoc  neget  esse  argutissimum  et  elegantissimum 
epigramma?  He  compares  Philomusus  to  Evangelicus  iste  noster 
nepos,  et  porcorum  eonviva. 


XCVIII. 

PHYSICIAN  TURNED  UNDERTAKER. 

Diaulus  was  lately  a  physician ;  he  is  now  a  vespillo 
(whose  occupation  is  with  dead  bodies).  What  he  does  as  a 
vespillo,  he  formerly  did  as  a  physician. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xlviii. 

This  epigram  is  inserted  on  account  of  an  imitation  of  it  by 
Boileau : 

Paul,  ce  grand  Medecin,  l'effroy  de  son  quartier, 
Qui  causa  plus  de  maux  que  la  peste  et  la  guerre, 
Est  Cure  maintenant,  et  met  les  gens  a  terre, 
II  n'a  point  change  de  metier. 
A  French  commentator  on  Boileau  thinks  that  the  original  is 
better  than  the  copy,  for  the  comparison  is  exact  in  Martial;  but,  in 
Boileau,  the  verse  signifying  that  Paul  caused  more  evils  than  war 
or  pestilence,  under  pretence  of  saying  much,  says  nothing.     An  epi- 
gram of  Martial  on  an  oculist  who  turned  gladiator,  is  more  exact 
still :  Fecisti  rnedicus,  quod  fads  hoplomaclms. 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  129 

XCIX. 

A  PILFERING  PHYSICIAN. 

The  clinical  physician  Herodes  stole  a  drinking  cup  from 
a  sick  patient :  on  being  detected,  he  said,  Fool,  what  need 
have  you  of  drink  ? — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xcviii. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Power  of  the  Church  (writ- 
ten when  the  writ  De  Hceretico  comburendo  was  in  force),  writes 
"  He  that  hath  a  man  in  care  is  not  Curator  Bonorum,  and  the  phy- 
sician that  gives  physic  to  the  hody  is  not  master  of  his  wardrobe ; 
thus  the  epigram  derided  Herodes, 

Clinicus  Herodes  trullam  subduxerat  segro, 
Deprensus  dixit,  Stulte,  quid  ergo  bibis? 

because  when  he  came  to  take  away  his  patient's  sickness,  he  took 
away  his  plate.  Though  the  body  be  accessory  to  the  soul,  it  will 
not  follow  that  he  who  can  cut  the  soul  off  from  the  Church,  can 
also  cut  the  body  off  from  the  commonwealth." 


c. 

KAVING  ON  N^EVIA. 


Whatever  Rufus  does,  Rufus  heeds  nothing,  unless  it 
be  Nsevia ;  if  he  be  glad,  if  he  weeps,  if  he  be  silent,  it  is 
all  expressive  of  her.  He  sups,  he  drinks  healths,  he  asks, 
he  denies,  he  assents ;  but,  in  all,  Nsevia  is  uppermost  in 
his  speech  ;  without  Nsevia  he  is  mute.  He  wrote  yesterday 
a  letter  of  salutation  to  his  father,  and  addressed  him,  "  Hail, 
Nsevia,  my  light !  my  divinity ! "  Nsevia  reads  this,  and  smiles 
with  downcast  eyes.  There  are  more  Nsevias  than  one  in  the 
world  ;  why  does  your  folly  turn  to  raving  ? — Lib.  i.  Ep.  lxix. 


MART. 


130  MARTIAL   AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Funeral  Sermon  on  the  Countess  of  Carbery, 
observes  concerning  what  he  calls  an  "  enamel  to  the  beanty  of  her 
soul,"  and  not  less  a  "  reward  to  the  virtues  of  her  lord,"  (to  whom 
the  sermon  is  dedicated,)  "That  which  I  still  note  in  her  is  that 
which  I  would  have  an  exemplar  to  all  ladies,  and  to  all  women  : 
she  had  a  love  so  great  for  her  lord,  she  was  so  entirely  given  up 
to  a  dear  affection,  that  she  thought  the  same  things,  loved  the  same 
loves,  hated  according  to  the  same  enmities,  breathed  in  his  soul, 
lived  in  his  presence,  languished  in  his  absence,  and  all  that  she 
was  or  did  was  only  for  and  to  her  dearest  lord;"  then,  with  an 
exchange  of  genders,  Jeremy  Taylor  quotes, 

Si  gaudet,  si  net,  si  tacet,  hunc  loquitur, 
Coenat,  propinat,  poscit,  negat,  innuit,  unus 
Ncevius  est. 

In  the  113th  number  of  the  Spectator,  Sir  R.  Steele,  after  giving, 
in  the  character  of  the  "  Spectator,"  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley's  narrative 
concerning  his  having  been  in  love,  thus  concludes  :  "  I  found  my 
friend  begin  to  rave,  and  insensibly  led  him  towards  the  house,  that 
we  might  be  joined  by  some  other  company ;  and  am  convinced 
that  the  widow  is  the  secret  cause  of  all  that  inconsistency  which 
appears  in  some  parts  of  my  friend's  discourse.  Though  he  has  so 
much  command  of  himself  as  not  directly  to  mention  her,  yet,  ac- 
cording to  that  of  Martial,  which  one  knows  not  how  to  render 
into  English,  Bum  tacet,  hanc  loquitur,  I  shall  end  this  Paper  with 
that  whole  epigram  which  represents,  with  much  humour,  my  honest 
friend's  condition."  After  quoting  the  original  epigram  (except  the 
last  two  lines),  Steele  subjoins  the  following  version  : 

Let  Rufus  weep,  rejoice,  stand,  sit,  or  walk, 
Still  he  can  nothing  but  of  Nasvia  talk ; 
Let  him  eat,  drink,  ask  questions,  or  dispute, 
Still  he  must  speak  of  Nsevia,  or  be  mute. 
He  writ  to  his.  father,  ending  with  this  line, 
"I  am,  my  lovely  Nsevia,  ever  thine." 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  131 

CI. 

UNBECOMING  SMILES. 

"  Smile,  0  damsel,  if  you  are  wise,  smile,"  was,  I  think, 
the  advice  of  Ovid.  But  he  did  not  say  this  to  every  damsel, 
and  least  of  all  to  you  who  are  no  longer  a  damsel.  You 
have,  it  is  true,  Maximina,  three  teeth,  but  they  are  mani- 
festly pitchy,  and  like  box-wood ;  wherefore,  if  you  consult 
your  looking-glass,  or  me,  you  ought  to  be  as  much  afraid 
of  a  smile  as  Spanius  is  of  the  wind  for  his  hair,  or  Priscus 
of  a  hand  soiling  his  fine  dress ;  as  the  chalked  Fabulla  is 
fearful  of  the  rain,  or  the  certissed  (white-leaden)  Sabella 
of  the  sun.  Put  on  the  rueful  faces  of  the  wife  of  Priam, 
or  Andromache ;  avoid  reading  the  mimes  of  the  laughter- 
moving  Philistion ;  abstain  from  all  cheerful  banquets,  and 
avoid  all  witty  conversation  that  may  relax  the  lips  into  a 
wide  smile.  You  ought  to  seat  yourself  by  the  side  of  a 
bereaved  mother,  or  of  a  newly-made  widow,  or  a  brother 
inconsolable  for  a  lost  brother ;  and  you  ought  to  have  no 
leisure  to  bestow  on  any  muse  but  that  of  tragedy.  In  short, 
if  you  will  follow  my  advice,  "  Weep,  0  damsel,  if  you  are 
wise,  weep." — Lib.  n.  Ep.  xli. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  his  play  of  Sejanus,  has  the  following  part  of 
a  dialogue  between  a  Roman  lady  and  her  physician  : 

Livia.  How  do  I  look  to-day  ? 

Eudemus.     Excellent  clear,  believe  it ;  this  s&mefucus 

Was  well  laid  on. 
Livia.  Methiuks,  'tis  here  not  white. 

Eudemus.     Lend  me  your  scarlet,  lady.     'Tis  the  Sun 

Hath  given  some  little  taint  unto  the  Ceruse. 
Ben  Jonson  cites,  in  a  note  on  this  passage  of  his  play,  two  lines 
from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  with  a  slight  variation,  viz. 

Quse  cretata  timet  Fabulla  nimbum, 
Cerussata  timet  Sabella  solem. 

K2 


132  MARTIAL   AND   THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

Respecting  the  Cerusse,  Martial  has,  in  another  epigram, 

Sic,  qua?  nigrior  est  cadente  moro, 
Cerussata  sibi  placet  Lycoris. 

This  is  quoted  by  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Christian  Sim- 
plicity, who  observes  upon  it,  "  For  so  the  most  deformed  woman, 
whose  girdle  no  foolish  young  man  will  unloose,  because  she  is  blacker 
than  the  falling  mulberry,  may  please  herself  under  a  skin  of  cerusse, 
and  call  herself  fairer  than  Pharaoh's  daughter." 


CIL 

BUILDING  AND  BESTOWING. 

Do  you  believe,  Pastor,  that  I  ask  for  wealth  to  attain  the 
objects  for  which  the  low  and  ignorant  crowd  desire  it?  viz. 
that  a  Setine  farm  should  give  employment  for  my  spades ; 
that  a  Tuscan  one  should  resound  with  the  innumerable  fet- 
ters of  my  slaves ;  that  my  round  tables  of  African-wood 
should  stand  on  a  hundred  elephants'  tusks  ;  that  my  bed 
should  jingle  with  its  golden  ornaments ;  that  no  vessels  but 
of  large  crystal  should  be  rubbed  by  my  lips ;  that  Faler- 
nian  wine  should  darken  the  snow  in  my  goblets  ;  that  Syrian 
slaves  arrayed  in  Canusian  wool  should  labour  at  the  poles  of 
my  sedan  ;  that  a  crowd  of  clients  should  attend  me  wherever 
I  am  carried ;  that  my  cup-bearer  should  eclipse  Jove's  Gany- 
mede ;  that  I  should  ride  on  a  mule,  though  bespattered  with 
mud,  in  a  purple  lacerna  (upper  cloak) ;  that  a  whip,  without 
any  bridle,  should  direct  my  Massylean  steed.  It  is  not  any 
one  of  these  that  I  covet,  for  which  I  attest  the  gods  above 
and  the  stars !  What  is  it,  then  ?  Pastor,  I  desire  to  build 
and  to  bestow  (tit  donem  et  cedificem). — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xxiii. 

The  first  two  lines  of  this  epigram,  which  incidentally  contains 
a  curious  detail  of  Roman  luxuries,  are  prefixed  to  the  following 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  133 

poetical  petition  addressed  to  Lord  Carteret,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  by  Dr  Delany,  published  together  with  Swift's  works. 

Who  can  be  happy — who  should  wish  to  live 

And  want  the  god-like  happiness  to  give? 

Ask  your  own  heart,  my  lord,  if  this  be  true, 

Then  how  unblest  am  I,  how  blest  are  you. 
'Tis  true,  but  doctor,  let  us  waive  all  that; 

Say,  if  you  had  your  wish,  what  you'd  be  at. 
Excuse  me,  my  good  lord — I  wont  be  sounded, 

Nor  shall  your  favour  by  my  wants  be  bounded. 

My  Lord,   I  challenge  nothing  as  my  due, 

Nor  is  it  fit  I  should  prescribe  to  you. 

My  Lord,  I  wish  to  pay  the  debts  I  owe — 

I'll  wish,  besides,  to  build  and  to  bestow. 


cm. 

PLURALITY  OF  RESIDENCES. 

You  possess  a  house  at  Esquilise,  and  one  on  the  hill 
of  Diana ;  and  the  street  of  Patricians  amongst  its  roofs 
reckons  yours.  From  one  of  your  houses  you  behold  the 
temple  of  Cybele,  from  another  that  of  Vesta  ;  you  command 
a  view  both  of  the  ancient  and  modern  capitol.  Say,  where 
shall  I  meet  with  you  ?  At  what  place  shall  I  ask  for  you  ? 
Maximus  !  he  who  lives  everywhere  lives  nowhere. — Lib.  vn. 
Ep.  LXXII. 

Montagne  thus  applies  the  above  epigram :  "  L'Ame  qui  n'a  point 
de  but  estably,  elle  se  perd :  car,  comme  on  dit,  c'est  n'estre  en  aucun 
lieu  que  d'estre  par  tout. 

Quisquis  ubique  habitat,  Maxime,  nusquam  habitat." 

Montagne  enlarges,  from  his  own  experience,  on  the  fantastic 
notions  which  spring  up  in  the  mind  of  a  man  unoccupied  by  any 
definite  pursuit,  nusquam  habitans. 


134  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CIV. 

A   HOUSE   FOR   SHOW. 

You  are  conspicuous  for  possessing  plantations  of  laurels, 
of  plane-trees,  and  tall  cypresses,  and  of  baths  large  enough 
for  public  use.  Your  lofty  portico  stands  on  a  hundred  co- 
lumns, and  the  onyx  shines  under  your  feet  as  you  walk. 
The  swift-footed  horse  applauds  your  hippodromon  with  his 
resounding  hoofs.  On  every  side  of  your  mansion  there  is 
a  murmur  of  falling  water.  Your  Atria  are  long  and  ex- 
pansive ;  but  there  are  no  supper-rooms,  no  bed-rooms  ;  how 
admirably  you  do  not  dwell ! — Lib.  xn.  Ep.  l. 

The  point  of  the  above  epigram,  which  incidentally  presents  a 
picture  of  the  magnificence  of  Roman  mansions,  is  an  example  of  a 
questionable  species  of  wit,  which  operates  by  surprise,  the  reader, 
until  the  end,  being  led  to  expect  a  contrary  result  to  that  with 
which  he  is  treated.  Several  instances  of  French  epigrams  similarly 
constructed  are  noticed  in  Kaimes's  Elements  of  Criticism. 

It  may  seem  that  Ben  Jonson  had  the  above  epigram  in  view, 
when  concluding  his  poem  on  Penshurst,  thus : 

Now,  Penshurst,  they  that  will  proportion  thee 

With  other  edifices,  when  they  see 

Those  proud  ambitious  heaps,  and  nothing  else, 

May  say,  their  Lords  have  built,  but  thy  Lord  dwells. 


cv. 

A   NEIGHBOURLESS   NEIGHBOUR, 

Novius  is  my  neighbour,  and  can  be  reached  by  my  lmnd 
out  of  my  ivindow.  Who  does  not  envy  me,  and  suppose  that 
I  am  every  hour  happy,  since  I  can  enjoy  the  society  of  my 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  135 

companion  now  in  near  junction  of  residences  with  me.  The 
fact,  however,  is,  that  Novius  is  as  far  from  me  as  Teren- 
tianus  who  governs  Syene,  a  province  of  the  Nile.  We  cannot 
have  each  other's  society  so  close  together.  No  one  in  the 
whole  city  is  so  near,  and  no  one  so  far  off.  One  of  us 
must  migrate  to  a  distance.  A  person  should  be  a  neigh- 
bour or  inmate  of  Novius,  who  does  not  wish  to  see  him. — 
— Lib.  i.  Ep.  lxxxvii. 

A  passage  in  the  above  epigram  is  referred  to  by  Becker,  in  his 
Gallics,  on  the  point,  whether  Roman  houses  had  windows  looking 
into  the  street  ; 

Vicinus  mens  est,  manuque  tangi 

De  nostris  Novius  potest  fenestris. 

The  motto  of  the  77th  Number  of  the  Spectator  is, 

Non  convivere  licet,  nee  urbe  tota 

Quisnam  est  tarn  prope,  tarn  proculque  nobis. 

What  correspondence  can  I  hold  with  you, 
Who  art  so  near,  and  yet  so  distant  too1? 

The  Paper  is  on  the  subject  of  Absence  of  Mind,  especially  that  of 
Will  Honeycomb ;  it  concludes  with  extracts  from  Bruyeres'  character 
of  an  Absent  Man. 

Jeremy  Taylor  writes  in  reference  to  the  Presbyterian  doctrine 
concerning  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin,  "  These  are  the  doctrines 
of  the  Presbyterians,  whose  face  is  towards  us,  but  it  is  over  against 
us  in  this  and  many  other  questions  of  great  concernment : 

Nemo  est  tarn  prope,  tarn  proculque  nobis. 
He  is  nearest  to  us,  and  farthest  from  us." 


136  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CVI. 

EPITAPH   ON   GLAUCIAS. 

(I.) 
The  well-known  freed-youth  of  Melior  has  died,  and  has 
occasioned  grief  to  the  whole  of  Rome.  He  lies  buried  under 
this  marble  tomb,  close  by  the  Flaminian  way.  He  was  in 
morals  pure,  in  modesty  intact,  in  talents  quick,  in  appear- 
ance fortunate ;  the  boy  had  not  quite  added  a  year  to 
six  completed  harvests.  Traveller  !  whosoever  thou  art  that 
weepest  at  this  recital,  mayst  thou  have  no  other  cause  for 
weeping  l—Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xxviii. 

(ii.) 
Glaucias  was  made  free  by  Melior  at  an  age  when  he 
could  scarcely  comprehend  the  gift  of  freedom  ;  he  had  been 
no  plebeian  slave,  or  of  the  common  shops,  but  one  worthy 
of  the  regard  of  his  master  :  he  received  his  freedom  for  his 
morals  and  his  beauty.  Who  was  more  bland  in  his  manners  ? 
Who  had  a  more  Apollinean  face  ?  Short  is  the  span  of  life 
for  all  who  are  pre-eminent ;  rarely  among  them  is  found  old 
age  :  whatever  you  love,  take  not  in  it  too  intense  a  pleasure. 
Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xxix. 

With  regard  to  the  first  line  of  the  concluding  distich  of  the  last 
epigram,  Evelyn,  in  his  Diary  (1689),  makes  mention  of  a  child  not 
twelve  years  old,  the  son  of  a  Dr  Clench,  astonishing  himself  and 
Pepys  by  his  "  profound  maturity  of  knowledge."  He  calls  this  pro- 
digy "a  wonderful  child,  or  angel  rather,  for  he  was  as  beautiful  and 
lovely  in  countenance  as  in  knowledge.  I  counselled  his  father  not 
to  set  his  heart  too  much  on  this  jewel : 

Immodicis  brevis  est  eetas,  et  rara  senectus." 

Cowley  takes  the  same  passage,  Immodicis  brevis  est  cetas,  et  rara 
senectus,  as  the  motto  for  an  elegy  on  his  friend  Harvey,  which  con- 
tains the  lines  quoted  by  Curran  to  Lord  Avonmore,  beginning : 

Say,  for  you  saw  us,  ye  immortal  lights  ! 


III.]  GENERAL   LIFE.  137 

The  same  line  is  applied  by  Cardan  to  Kiug  Edward  VI.,  in  his 
memoirs  concerning  his  royal  pupil;  he  writes,  "Alas!  how  pro- 
phetically did  he  once  repeat  to  me,  Immodicis  brevis  est  cetas,  et 
rara  senectus."  Shakespere  has  a  parallel  passage  to  this  notion 
of  Martial : 

So  wise,  so  young,  they  say  do  ne'er  live  long. 

The  motto  of  the  38th  Number  of  the  Spectator  (by  Steele)  is : 

Cupias  non  placuisse  nimis. 

One  would  not  please  too  much. 

The  Paper  is  on  the  subject  of  affectation,  consisting  of  reflections 

on  observing  "a  great  deal  of  beauty  in  a  very  handsome  woman, 

and  as  much  wit  in  an  ingenious  man,  turned  into  deformity  in  the 

one,  and  absurdity  in  the  other,  by  the  mere  force  of  affectation." 

A  compliment  to  Chancellor  Cowper  is  conveyed  in  illustrating  the 

effects  of  affectation  among  barristers :    "  I  have  seen  it  make  a  man 

run  from  the  purpose  before  a  Judge,  who  was,  when  at  the  bar 

himself,  so  close  and  logical  a  pleader,  that  with  all  the  pomp  of 

eloquence  in  his  power,  he  never  spoke  a  word  too  much." 

Pelisson  and  the  Count  de  Bussy  had  a  controversy  concerning  the 
concluding  line  of  Martial's  epigram.  Pelisson,  who  approved  of  it, 
translated  it,  "  Voulez-vous  etre  heureux,  souhaitez  en  aimant  que  ce 
que  vous  aimez  ne  soit  pas  trop  aimable."  The  Count  de  Bussy  con- 
tended that  whoever  loves  wishes  that  the  object  of  his  attachment 
should  be  amiable  to  perfection. 

Ben  Jonson  adverts  to  the  last  line  of  Martial's  epigram,  in  his 
elegy  on  the  death  of  his  first  son : 

Farewell,  the  child  of  my  right  hand,  and  joy; 

My  sin  was  too  much  hope  of  thee,  lov'd  boy: 

Seven  years  thou  wert  lent  to  me,  and  I  thee  pay, 

Exacted  by  thy  fate,  on  the  just  day. 

O,  could  I  lose  all  father  now!    for  why 

Will  man  lament  the  state  he  should  envy? 

To  have  so  soon  'scap'd  world's  and  flesh's  rage, 

And  if  no  other  misery,  yet  age  ! 

Pest  in  soft  peace,  and  ask'd,  say  here  doth  lie 

Ben  Jonson,  his  best  piece  of  poetry. 

For  whose  sake  henceforth  all  his  vows  be  such, 

As  what  he  loves  may  never  like  too  much. 


138  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

CVII. 
ELEGY   ON   EROTIOK 

(I.) 
0  my  father,  Fronto  !  and  my  mother,  Flacilla !  I  com- 
mend to  you,  in  the  realm  below,  this  damsel,  my  delight  and 
the  object  of  my  kisses,  lest  Erotion  be  terrified  at  the  dark 
shades,  and  at  the  enormous  mouth  of  the  dog  of  Tartarus. 
She  would  have  completed  her  sixth  winter  if  she  had  lived 
six  days  longer.  May  she  continue  her  sportive  ways  under 
your  reverend  patronage,  and  may  she  garrulously  stammer 
forth  my  name !  May  the  turf  lie  lightly  on  her  delicate 
bones ;  you  ought  not,  0  earth,  to  be  heavy  to  her ;  she 
was  not  so  to  thee ! — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xxxv. 

(ii.) 

Damsel,  sweeter  to  me  than  swans  grown  to  their  full 
whiteness,  softer  than  a  Calesian  lamb,  more  delicate  than 
a  shell  of  the  Lucrine  lake,  one  to  whom  you  would  not  prefer 
the  coral  of  the  red  sea,  nor  the  polished  tooth  of  the  Indian 
elephant,  nor  the  just  fallen  snow,  nor  the  lily  yet  untouched 
— whose  hair  excels  the  fleece  of  the  Beetle  flocks  (of  a  golden 
colour),  and  the  knots  of  hair  twisted  by  the  women  of  the 
Rhine,  and  the  sparkling  gold-dust.  Her  breath  was  of  the 
rose-gardens  of  Psestum,  of  the  newly-made  honey  of  Attic 
hives,  of  amber  become  odoriferous  by  friction ;  compared 
with  whom  the  peacock  is  inelegant,  the  squirrel  unamiable, 
the  phoenix  a  bird  to  be  seen  in  flocks.  The  ashes  of  Erotion  are 
yet  warm  in  their  recent  tomb ;  she  yielded  to  the  avaricious 
law  of  the  fates  before  she  had  quite  completed  her  sixth 
year:  with  her  are  flown  my  loves,  my  joys,  my  sports;  and  yet 
my  friend  Psetus  forbids  my  being  sad.  He  says,  Are  you  not 
ashamed  to  beat  your  breast,  and  tear  your  hair  on  account 
of  a  slave-girl ?     "I  have  buried,"  he  says,  " a  wife  known  in 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  139 

society,  proud,  noble,  rich,  and,  notwithstanding  which,  as  you 
see,  I  live/'  What  fortitude  can  exceed  that  of  Psetus  ?  He 
has  succeeded,  by  his  wife's  death,  to  two  hundred  thousand 
sesterces,  and  yet  he  lives. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xxxviii. 

The  names  of  Martial's  father  and  mother  have  been  collected 
from  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams  by  his  biographers.  The  con- 
verse of  its  conclusion  has  been  made  the  point  of  an  epigram  on 
the  architect  of  Blenheim: 

Lie  heavy  on  him,  Earth,  for  he 
Laid  many  a  heavy  stone  on  thee. 

The  second  epigram  -would  appear  to  be  imitated  in  the  following 
lines  by  Ben  Jonson  : 

Have  you  seen  but  a  bright  lily  grow 
Before  rude  hands  have  touch' d  it  ? 

Have  you  mark'd  but  the  fall  of  snow 
Before  the  soil  hath  smutch'd  it? 

Have  you  felt  the  -wool  of  the  beaver  ? 
Or  swan's  down  ever? 

Or  have  smelt  o'  the  bud  of  the  brier? 
Or  the  nard  in  the  fire? 

Or  have  tasted  the  bag  of  the  bee  ? 

O  so  white!    O  so  soft!    O  so  sweet  is  she! 

Burton,  in  his  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  quotes  Martial's  epigram, 
as  indicating,  in  its  hyperbolical  comparisons,  symptoms  of  love-melan- 
choly. His  version  shows  that  in  his  time  the  popular  taste  in 
poetry  was  not  very  fastidious,  as  thus, 

To  whom  confer' d  a  Peacock's  indecent, 
A  Squirrel  harsh,  a  Phoenix  too  frequent. 


140  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CVIII. 

ELEGY   ON  ALCIMUS. 

Alcimus  !  whom  the  soil  of  Labicana  covers  with  its  light 
turf,  and  who  wast  snatched  from  thy  master  whilst  in  rising 
youth,  receive  not  the  nodding  weights  of  Parian  marble, 
which  futile  labour  dedicates  to  ashes,  and  which  themselves 
must  crumble  and  decay;  but  accept  the  slender  box-trees, 
and  the  dark  shades  of  the  palm,  and  the  grass  moistened 
with  my  tears.  Take  these,  dear  boy,  for  the  monuments  of 
my  sorrow ;  these  may  confer  on  you  lasting  honour.  When 
Lachesis  shall  have  spun  out  the  thread  of  my  life,  I  enjoin 
that  my  ashes  shall  repose  in  no  other  manner. — Lib,  i. 
Ep.  LXXXIX. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Funeral  Sermon  on  the  Countess  of  Carbery, 
quotes,  from  the  above  epigram,  the  passage : 

Phario  nutantia  pondera  saxo, 
Quae  cineri  vanus  dat  ruitura  labor. 

Observing,  "  that  every  thing  finds  a  grave  and  a  tomb,  and  the  very 
tomb  itself  dies  by  the  bigness  of  its  pompousness  and  bravery :  it 
becomes  as  much  pliable  and  unconfined  dust  as  the  ashes  of  the 
sinner  or  the  saint  that  lay  under  it,  and  is  now  forgotten  in  his  bed 
of  darkness."  In  the  same  sermon,  he  makes  another  quotation  from 
Martial's  epigram : 

Cum  mihi  supremos  Lachesis  perneverit  annos  : 
Non  aliter  cineres  mando  jacere  meos. 

As  to  which  passage  he  says,  "  She  lived  as  we  all  should  die,  and  she 
died  as  I  fain  would  die.  I  pray  God  that  I  may  feel  the  same 
mercies  on  my  death-bed  that  she  felt." 

The  literary  reader  may,  perhaps,  trace  an  imitation  of  the  above 
epigram,  in  part  of  Pope's  Elegy  to  the  Memory  of  an  Unfortunate 
Lady  : 

What  though  no  weeping  loves  thy  ashes  grace, 

Nor  polished  marble  emulate  thy  face; 


III.]  GENERAL    LIFE.  141 

Yet  shall  thy  grave  with  rising  flowers  be  drest, 
And  the  green  turf  lie  lightly  on  thy  breast ; 
There  shall  the  morn  her  earliest  tears  bestow. 

Lamb,  in  a  note  to  his  translation  of  Catullus,  says  that  Martial's 
elegy  on  Alcimus  is  clearly  composed  in  imitation  of  that  of  Catullus 
upon  his  brother's  grave ;  an  opinion  which  may  admit  of  question. 
We  are  indebted  to  Lamb  for  a  pretty  version  of  Martial's  elegy: 

Dear  boy!    whom,  torn  in  early  youth  away, 
The  light  turf  covers  in  Labicum's  way, 
Receive  no  tomb  hewn  from  the  Parian  cave 
By  useless  toil  to  moulder  o'er  the  grave; 
But  box  and  shady  palms  shall  flourish  here, 
And  softest  herbage  green  with  many  a  tear. 
Dear  boy!   these  records  of  my  grief  receive, 
These  simple  honours  that  will  bloom  and  live; 
And  be,  when  Fate  has  spun  my  latest  line, 
My  ashes  honour' d,  as  I  honour  thine  ! 


CHAPTER  IV. 
ROMAN    LIFE. 


The  epigrams  of  Martial  which  relate  to  Roman  life  were 
probably,  in  his  own  time,  the  most  popular  part  of  his  books ; 
even  now  there  may  be  found  in  them  some  of  the  liveliest 
sallies  of  his  satire,  wit,  and  humour ;  but,  in  many  instances, 
their  application  has  become  undiscoverable,  owing  to  the 
memory  of  the  objects  glanced  at  having  perished.  In  most 
epigrams  of  this  class  the  temporary  nature  of  the  conven- 
tionalities alluded  to  has  been  a  bar  to  their  modern  uses.  We 
have  not,  for  instance,  with  us  seats  at  our  theatres  appropri- 
ated to  peers  and  members  of  parliament ;  we  do  not  devote 
a  portion  of  each  day  to  public  baths ;  we  do  not  drink  by 
prescribed  rules ;  our  houses  are  not  filled  with  slaves.  Never- 
theless, there  are  a  few  of  Martial's  epigrams  upon  the  present 
subject,  in  which  intelligent  modern  writers  have  discovered, 
for  the  edification  and  entertainment  of  their  own  times,  re- 
flections on  human  nature,  which,  although  superficially  diver- 
sified by  conventional  manners,  are  as  intrinsically  applicable 
to  the  life  in  England  of  every  day,  as  to  that  at  Rome  in  the 
reign  of  Domitian.  The  merits  of  Martial's  style  and  expres- 
sions have  also  occasioned  the  epigrams  under  the  present 
head  to  be  applied  to  various  purposes  alien  to  their  original 
design.  These  epigrams  have,  also,  been,  in  many  instances, 
used  by  Roman  antiquaries  as  the  foundation,  or  in  support 


CH.  IV.]  KOMAN    LIFE.  143 

of  their  conclusions.  With  regard,  indeed,  to  the  private  life 
of  the  Romans,  Martial  and  Pliny  should  be  read  together, 
inasmuch  as  they  represent  it  as  regarded  by  persons  dif- 
fering widely  in  their  stations  of  life,  habits  and  genius. 

One  class  of  modern  uses  of  Martial's  epigrams  on  Roman 
life  is  scarcely  touched  upon  in  the  present  Chapter,  viz. 
the  illustrations  derived  from  them  by  commentators  on 
Roman  authors,  especially  Horace,  Juvenal,  Persius  and 
Pliny.  To  do  justice  to  Martial's  utility  in  this  point  of  view, 
would  occupy  a  great  number  of  pages,  and  such  as  would  be 
caviare  to  all  but  the  learned:  occasional  and  brief  notices, 
therefore,  of  uses  of  this  description  have  been  judged  all  that 
it  is  expedient  to  introduce  under  the  head  of  Roman  life. 


CIX. 

CONFLUX  OF  NATIONS. 


What  nation  is  so  secluded,  or  so  barbarous,  0  Caesar ! 
as  not  to  furnish  a  spectator  of  your  city?  Thither  flocks 
the  inhabitant  of  Mount  Hgemus,  once  the  Thracian  abode 
of  Orpheus;  thither  the  Sarmatian  nourished  with  the  blood 
of  horses ;  thither  he  who  drinks  the  water  of  the  Nile  where 
the  river  is  first  discovered,  and  he  who  lives  on  the  remotest 
land's-end  that  is  dashed  against  by  the  Ocean.  The  Arabian 
has  hastened,  the  Sabaeans  have  not  been  behind,  and  the  Cili- 
cians  have  been  made  wet  in  our  theatres  with  their  own  per- 
fumed waters.  The  Sicambrians  have  come  with  their  hair 
twisted  into  a  knot,  and  the  Ethiopians  with  their  hair  orna- 
mented after  a  different  fashion.  Their  languages  are  dif- 
ferent, but  there  is  one  sentiment  in  the  mouths  of  all,  viz. 
that  of  hailing  you,  0  Caesar!  by  the  title  of  the  true  Father 
of  your  Country ! — Sped.  3. 


144  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Montagne,  in  an  essay  on  managed  horses,  writes  that  the  Scy- 
thians, when  they  were  in  scarcity  of  provisions,  used  to  let  their 
horses'  blood,  which  they  drank,  and  sustained  themselves  by  that* 
diet,  quoting, 

Venit  et  epoto  Sarmata  pastus  equo; 
which  Montagne's  translator  renders, 

The  Scythian  also  comes  without  remorse, 
Having  before  quaff' d  up  his  bleeding  horse. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  his  play  of  Sejanus,  writes, 

When  I  have  charged  alone  into  the  troops 
Of  curVd  Sicambrians. 

In  a  note  he  quotes,  from  the  above  epigram,  the  line, 
Crinibus  in  nodum  tortis  venere  Sicambri. 

Milton's  commentators  have  ascribed,  apparently  with  reason,  to 
this  epigram  the  germ  of  the  more  beautiful  tableau  of  ancient  Rome, 
imagined  to  be  sketched  by  the  Tempter  on  the  mount,  in  the  Para- 


Thence  to  the  gates  cast  round  thine  eye,  and  see 

What  conflux  issuing  forth,  or  entering  in! 

Pretors,  proconsuls  to  their  provinces 

Hasting,  or  on  return,  in  robes  of  state; 

Lictors  and  rods  the  ensigns  of  their  power, 

Legions,  and  cohorts,  turms  of  horse,  and  wings; 

Or  embassies  from  regions  far  remote, 

In  various  habits  on  the  Appian  road, 

Or  on  the  Emilian;  some  from  farthest  south, 

Syene,  and  where  the  shadow  both  way  falls, 

Meroe,  Nilotic  isle,  and,  more  to  west, 

The  realm  of  Bocchus  to  the  Blackmoor  sea; 

From  the  Asian  kings  and  Parthian  among  these, 

Prom  India,  and  the  golden  Chersonese, 

And  utmost  Indian  isle  Taprobane, 

Dusk  faces,  with  white  silken  turbans  wreathed; 

From  Gallia,  Gades,  and  the  British  west; 

Germans,  and  Scythians,  and  Sarmatians  north 

Beyond  Danubius  to  the  Tauric  pool. — 

All  nations  now  to  Borne  obedience  pay. 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  145 

ex. 

CRIES  OF  ROME. 

(10 
You  ask  why  I  so  often  go  out  of  town,  to  visit  the  poor 
Lar  of  my  barren  Xomentanian  villa?  There  are  neither  ways 
of  thinking  nor  of  resting  for  a  poor  man  in  the  city.  One 
cannot  live  for  schoolmasters  in  the  day,  grinders  of  corn 
at  night,  smiths  at  their  forges  all  the  day  and  night.  Here 
a  money-changer  indolently  tosses  Xero's  rough  coins  on  his 
dirty  counter;  there  a  beater  of  Spanish  nuggets  belabours 
with  a  glowing  hammer  his  worn  stone.  Neither  does  the 
fanatic  crowd  of  Bellona  cease  from  its  clamour;  nor  the 
talkative  mariner,  with  a  picture  of  his  shipwreck  suspended 
from  his  neck ;  nor  the  Jew-boy  taught  to  beg  by  his  mother ; 
nor  the  blear-eyed  hawker  of  sulphur.  Who  can  enumerate 
the  various  interruptions  of  sleep  at  Rome?  As  well  might 
you  cast  up  the  number  of  hands  in  the  city  which  strike  the 
brazen  cymbals  when  the  divided  moon  is  brought  down 
from  the  skies  by  magical  devices.  But  you,  Sparsus,  are 
ignorant  of  all  this,  who  live  delicately  on  the  Janiculum; 
whose  house,  though  built  on  a  level,  overlooks  the  highest 
hills;  who  enjoy  the  country  in  the  city  (rus  in  urbe),  and 
a  Roman  vine-dresser,  and  an  autumnal  vintage  not  to  be 
surpassed  on  the  Falernian  mount ;  and  a  course  for  your  car- 
riage included  within  your  own  premises ;  and  profound  sleep, 
unbroken  by  any  tongues,  and  no  daylight  unless  when  pur- 
posely admitted.  The  laughter  of  the  passing  crowd  arouses 
me ;  Rome  is  at  my  bedside.  Whenever  I  want  to  repose  from 
weariness,  I  go  to  my  country  villa. — Lib  xn.  Ep.  lvii. 

(ii.) 
What  right  have  you  to  annoy  me,  0  wicked  schoolmaster, 
whose  head  is  detested  by  boys  and  by  girls?    The  crested 
cocks  have  not  yet  broken  silence,  and  already  you  thunder 

MART.  L 


146  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

with  scolding  and  stripes.  The  brass  does  not  so  loudly 
resound  on  the  anvil,  when  a  smith  is  fitting  a  lawyer  to  his 
horse  in  an  equestrian  statue  of  bronze.  There  is  less  clamour 
in  the  amphitheatre  when  the  partizans  of  a  gladiator  are 
exulting  in  his  victory.  Your  neighbours  do  not  ask  to  sleep 
the  whole  night,  but  they  complain  that  they  cannot  sleep  at 
all.  Dismiss  your  scholars,  and  accept  for  your  silence  as 
much  money  as  you  get  by  your  noise. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  lxx. 

The  expression  Bus  in  TJrbe  has  become  a  household  one  in  Eng- 
land. The  cursus  intra  limen  is  referred  to  by  Becker  as  exemplify- 
ing the  use  of  hippodromes  in  inclosures.  Boileau  has  imitated  the 
first  of  the  above  epigrams  in  a  poem  on  the  noises  of  Paris : 

Tout  conspire  a  la  fois  a  troubler  mon  repos, 
Et  je  me  plains  ici  du  moindre  de  mes  maux. 
Car  a  peine  les  coqs,  commengant  leur  ramage, 
Auront  de  cris  aigus  frappe  le  voisinage; 
Qu'un  afireux  serrurier,  laborieux  Yulcain, 
Qu'eveillera  bien-tost  l'ardent  soif  du  gain, 
Avec  un  fer  maudit,  qua  grand  bruit  il  appreste, 
De  cent  coups  de  marteau  me  va  tendre  la  teste. 

-X-  %  -X-  * 

Je  fais  pour  reposer  un  effort  inutile, 

Ce  n'est  qu'a  prix  d'argent  qu'on  dort  en  cette  ville. 

II  faudroit,  dans  l'enclos  d'un  vaste  logement, 

Avoir  loin  de  la  rue  un  autre  appartement. 

Paris  est  pour  un  Riche  un  pais  de  Cocagne, 

Sans  sortir  de  la  ville,  il  trouve  la  campagne, 

II  peut  dans  son  jardin  tout  peuple  d'arbres  verds 

Receler  le  printems  au  milieu  des  hyvers, 

Et  foulant  le  parfum  de  ses  plantes  fleuris 

Aller  entretenir  ses  douces  reveries; 

Mais  moi,  grace  au  destin,  qui  n'ai  ni  feu,  ni  lieu, 

Je  me  loge  oil  je  puis,  et  comme  il  plaist  a  Dieu. 

Becker,  in  his  Gallus,  has  composed  his  description  of  the  cries 
of  Rome  partly  from  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams,  but  principally 
from  one  in  Martial's  first  book  :  he  uses  the  above  epigram  as  an 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  147 

authority  for  the  sellers  of  sulphur  or  matches  hawking  their  goods  ; 
and  the  epigram  in  the  first  book,  for  their  exchanging  them  for 
broken  glass;  from  which  epigram  it  also  appears  that  the  sellers 
of  boiled  peas,  and  of  sausages,  and  the  exhibitors  of  snakes,  had  their 
share  in  contributing  to  Roman  noises. 

With  regard  to  the  second  epigram,  it  illustrates  a  passage  in 
Juvenal,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  Roman  lawyers,  in  order  to 
attract  clients,  used  to  set  up  equestrian  statues  of  bronze  in  the 
vestibules  before  their  houses,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  lawyer  ^Emi- 
lius,  than  whom  Juvenal  says  he  could  plead  causes  better  himself : 

Stat  currus  aheneus,  alti 
Quadrijuges  in  vestibulis,  atque  ipse  feroci 
Bellatore  sedens. 

Becker,  in  the  Excursus  to  his  Gallus  on  the  subject  of  education, 
refers  to  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams,  in  proof  of  the  unpleasant- 
ness of  Roman  school-life;  observing  that  Martial,  who  lived  near  one 
of  those  schools,  does  not  say  much  for  the  humanity  of  the  ludi 
magistri;  he  says  less  for  it  in  another  epigram  wherein  he  speaks  of 
a  schoolmaster's  weapons : 

Scuticaque  loris  horridis  Scythse  pellis, 
Qua  vapulavit  Marsyas  Celaenius, 
Ferula  que  tristes,  sceptra  psedagogorum. 

He  may  be  thought  to  have  had  some  regard  to  his  own  ears,  in 
his  maxim,  cestate  pueri  si  valent,  satis  discunt. 

Martial's  annoyance  at  the  noises  of  Rome  may  probably  have 
suggested  to  Ben  Jonson  the  trait  of  aversion  to  noises  which  he 
attributes  to  Morose,  in  his  play  of  the  Silent  Woman,  and  to  molest 
whom  he  collects  all  the  principal  street-noises  of  his  day,  viz.  fish- 
wives, orange-women,  chimney-sweepers,  broom-men,  costard-mongers, 
smiths,  braziers,  pewterers,  the  waits,  bearwards. 


148  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 


CXI. 

HORARY  OCCUPATIONS. 

(I.) 

The  first  and  second  hour  of  the  day  comprise  the  saluters; 
the  third  exercises  the  lungs  of  noisy  lawyers ;  until  the  fifth 
Rome  is  occupied  in  miscellaneous  employments.  In  the 
sixth,  fatigued  persons  begin  to  rest  (sexta  quies  lassis) ;  in 
the  seventh,  there  is  a  general  cessation  from  labour.  From 
the  eighth  till  the  ninth,  the  oiled  palsestrse  (the  exercitatio, 
followed  by  a  bath)  aiford  sufficient  occupation.  The  ninth 
hour  bids  the  couches  to  be  made  ready  for  supper.  The 
tenth,  Euphemus,  is  the  hour  for  my  little  books,  what  time 
you  adjust  the  ambrosial  repast,  and  when  good  Csesar  is 
relaxed  by  divine  nectar  held  in  small  cups  with  his  vast 
hand.  At  this  moment  let  in  the  jokes  :  my  Thalia  is  fearful 
of  approaching  with  a  frolicsome  step  the  matutine  Jupiter. — 
Lib.  iv.  Ep.  viii. 

(ii.) 

Your  slave-boy  has  not  yet  shouted  the  fifth  hour,  and 
yet,  Ceecilianus,  you  make  your  appearance  as  my  guest; 
when  now  the  sureties  in  each  lawsuit  are  being  put  oif  till 
to-morrow,  and  the  arena  wearies  the  wild  beasts  exhibited 
in  honour  of  Flora,  Run,  Callistus;  recall  the  unwashed 
servants  (baths  being  for  the  eighth  hour);  let  the  couches 
be  prepared  for  supper;  sit  down,  Cseeilianus.  You  want 
warm  water  to  mix  with  wine,  but  the  cold  water  is  not  yet 
come;  the  kitchen  is  chilly,  its  hearth  being  still  naked  of 
wood.  Prefer  coining  earlier;  for  why  do  you  wait  for  the 
fifth  hour,  since  you  are  evidently  expecting  a  late  breakfast  ? 
(utjentes  sero). — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  lxvii. 


IV-]  ROMAN    LIFE.  149 

(III.) 

That  I  publish  scarce  one  Book  in  a  year,  appears  to  you, 
learned  Potitus,  idleness  on  my  part.  You  might,  with  more 
justice,  wonder  that  I  produce  one  Book,  if  you  knew  how 
whole  days  sometimes  glide  away  from  me.  In  the  evening 
I  have  to  see  those  friends  whom  I  have  saluted  in  the  morn- 
ing and  by  whom  my  salutations  may  be  returned  (vale  for 
ave) ;  and  to  many  I  offer  my  congratulations,  though  I  do  not 
afford  any  ground  for  their  congratulating  me.  Now  my 
jewelled  ring  is  busy  with  stamping  seals  near  Diana's  temple 
(on  the  Aventine  hill,  far  from  Martial's  house).  Now  the  first 
hour  (for  salutations),  then  the  fifth  (for  miscellaneous  busi- 
ness), seizes  me  for  its  own  concerns.  Now  I  am  detained  by 
a  consul  or  a  prgetor,  and  the  crowds  of  clients  accompanying 
them  home.  Often  a  poet's  recitation  is  to  be  heard  through  a 
whole  day ;  and  you  cannot  refuse  to  be  a  listener  with  impu- 
nity, if  a  lawyer  ask  you,  or  a  grammarian,  or  a  rhetorician. 
Wearied,  I  take  my  bath  at  the  tenth  hour  (the  usual  hours 
being  the  eighth  in  summer  and  ninth  in  winter),  and  then  I 
have  to  look  after  my  hundred  farthings  (centum  quadrantes) ; 
when,  Potitus,  shall  a  book  be  made? — Lib.  x.  Ep.  lxx. 

Antiquarians  have  made  great  use  of  the  above  epigrams  for  the 
explanation  of  the  Roman  hours,  the  occupations  of  a  day  at  Rome, 
and  the  customary  meals,  as  jentaculum,  prandium,  ccena.  Thus 
with  reference  to  Martial's  sexta  quies  lassis,  Becker,  in  taking  his 
Gallus  through  Rome  to  meet  his  carriage  outside  the  city  (for  it 
is  doubtful  whether  carriages  were  allowed  within  the  gates),  writes : 
"  It  was  just  the  time  when  the  streets,  though  always  full,  presented 
the  most  motley  throng ;  for  the  sixth  hour  approached,  when  a  gene- 
ral cessation  from  business  commenced,  and  most  people  were  wont 
to  take  their  morning  meal  (prandium)  :  whilst  some,  therefore,  were 
still  sedulously  engaged  in  their  daily  occupations,  many  of  the  less 
occupied  were  already  hurrying  to  places  of  refreshment." 

Becker  notices  that  it  appears  from  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams 
that,  when  an  hour  is  mentioned,  the  current  hour,  and  not  that 


150  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

which,  had  elapsed,  was  understood  :  this  had  been  made  a  question, 
and,  in  ancient  sun-dials,  the  hours  are  divided  by  means  of  only 
eleven  lines,  which  have  no  numbers  placed  against  them;  con- 
sequently, if  the  shadow  of  the  gnomon  fell  upon  the  first  line,  the 
first  hour  would  be  already  elapsed. 

The  ninth  hour,  that  for  supper  (better  answering  to  the  modern 
dinner),  Becker  reckons  would  have  been  2  hrs.  3 1  min.  in  summer, 
and  1  hr.  29  min.  in  winter,  at  the  solstices.  He  collects  from  Pliny 
that,  in  winter,  the  ccena  was  an  hour  later,  viz.  2  hrs.  13  min.  20  sec, 
the  natural  day  being  divided  into  twelve  equal  hours  (the  night 
being  divided  otherwise),  and  the  ninth  hour  being  halfway  between 
mid-day  and  sun-set.  Martial  is  speaking  only  of  what  are  customary 
hours;  in  another  place  he  mentions  a  ccena  at  the  tenth  hour;  and, 
in  another,  he  complains  that  after  being  dragged  through  the  mud 
all  day  in  following  his  Rex's  sella,  he  is  obliged  to  accompany  him  to 
Agrippa's  baths,  at  the  tenth  or  later  hour,  when  he  himself  used 
Titus's  baths  at  the  other  end  of  the  town. 

It  is  noticed  by  Becker,  that  it  appears  from  the  second  of  the 
above  epigrams,  that  the  use  of  calda  (warm  water)  to  be  mixed  with 
wine  was  not  restricted' to  the  cold  weather;  as  the  epigram  purports 
to  have  been  written  during  the  Floralia,  which  festival  was  cele- 
brated from  the  28th  of  April  till  the  2nd  of  May.  The  Centum 
quadrantes,  the  Becitations,  and  the  crying  of  the  hours  by  slaves, 
are  illustrative  of  several  ancient  authors.  Martial  tells  us  that  he 
lost  a  centum  quadrantes  at  a  swoop,  in  consequence  of  saluting  Cseci- 
lianus,  one  morning,  by  his  name,  without  adding  "my  lord"  (nee 
dixi,  dominum). 


CXII. 

COUNTBY   LIFE. 


If  I  am  asked  how  I  pass  my  time  in  the  country,  I  have  a 
short  answer  to  this  question.  At  daybreak  I  pray  to  the 
gods ;  I  then  review  my  domestics ;  next  my  fields ;  I  appor- 
tion a  fair  division  of  labour  among  my  servants ;  afterwards 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  151 

I  read,  I  invoke  Apollo,  I  tire  out  the  Muses:  which  done, 
I  rub  my  body  with  oil,  and  willingly  brace  it  by  gentle  exer- 
cises ;  all  this  with  lightness  of  heart,  and  freedom  from  debt 
to  the  usurers.  I  dine,  I  drink,  I  sing,  I  play,  I  wash,  I  sup, 
I  take  rest :  when  I  retire  to  my  couch,  a  small  lamp  consumes 
a  little  olive-oil :  the  light  of  this  lamp  furnishes  offerings  to 
the  nocturnal  Muses  (Camoenis). — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  xc. 

Pope,  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Cromwell,  dated  the  18th  of  March,  1708, 
writes  : 

"  If  you  have  any  curiosity  to  know  in  what  manner  I  live,  or 
rather,  lose  a  life,  Martial  will  inform  you  in  one  line : 

'Prandeo,  poto,  cano,  ludo,  lavo,  coeno,  quiesco. 
'(I  dine,  I  drink,  I  sing,  I  play,  I  read,  I  sup,  I  take  rest.)' 

Every  day  with  me  is  literally  another  yesterday,  for  it  is  exactly 
the  same.  It  has  the  same  business,  which  is  poetry,  and  the  same 
pleasure,  which  is  idleness.  A  man  might  indeed  pass  his  time  much 
better,  but  I  question  if  any  man  could  pass  it  much  easier.  If  you 
will  visit  our  shades  this  spring,  which  I  very  much  desire,  you  may, 
perhaps,  instruct  me  to  manage  my  game  more  wisely ;  but  at  present 
I  am  satisfied  to  trifle  away  my  time  any  way  rather  than  let  it 
stick  by  me ;  as  shopkeepers  are  glad  to  be  rid  of  those  books  at  any 
rate  which  would  otherwise  always  be  lying  on  their  hands. 

"  Sir,  if  you  will  favour  me  sometimes  with  your  letters,  it  will 
be  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  on  several  accounts ;  and  in  this  in  par- 
ticular, that  it  will  show  me  (to  my  comfort)  that  even  a  wise  man  is 
sometimes  very  idle ;  for  so  you  must  needs  be,  when  you  can  find 
leisure  to  write  to 

"  Yours,  &c." 

If  Martial's  epigram  may  appear,  from  Pope's  letter,  to  have  been 
conducive  to  literary  indolence,  it  produced  a  very  different  effect  on 
Sir  Thomas  Parkyns,  Baronet  (ancestor  of  the  Lords  Kancliffe),  who, 
in  his  treatise  on  wrestling,  called  Progymnasmata,  published  in  1714, 
tells  us  concerning  Martial's  epigram,  as  follows : 

"  So  soon  as  this  epigram  of  Martial's  became  my  lesson  under 
Dr  Busby,  at  Westminster  school,  and  that  I  had  truly  construed 
and  exactly  parsed  every  word,  as  we  did  all  our  authors,  that  they 


152  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

might  be  the  better  understood,  easier  got  memoriter  and  without 
book,  for  our  future  benefit ;  and  I  searching  in  '  Godwin's  Roman 
Antiquities '  for  the  meaning  of  oleo  corpusque  frico,  I  found  that 
wrestling  was  one  of  the  five  Olympic  games,  and  that  they  oiled 
their  bodies,  not  only  to  make  their  joints  more  supple  and  pliable, 
but  that  their  antagonist  might  be  less  capable  to  take  fast  hold  of 
them.  This,  with  running,  leaping,  quoiting,  and  whorle  bars,  were 
the  famous  and  most  celebrated  games  of  Greece,  continued  with 
great  solemnity  for  five  days,  in  honour  of  Jupiter  Olympius,  from 
whence  the  Romans  borrowed  their  Pentathlum,  which  was  com- 
posed of  running,  wrestling,  leapiDg,  throwing,  and  boxing.  Likewise 
it  gave  me  a  curiosity,  when  I  found  the  famous  poet  Martial,  my 
author,  was  proud  of  the  account  he  gives  of  his  country  life;  after 
his  orisons  to  his  God,  agriculture,  and  his  family  business  had  been 
regarded,  and,  with  his  book,  he  had  stirred  up  his  muse,  he  pre- 
pared himself  for  this  heroic  exercise  of  wrestling,  which  they  always 
performed  before  their  full  meal,  being  their  supper,  when  all  exer- 
cises were  over,  for  you  never  meet  with,  in  that  poet,  ad  prandium, 
but  always  ad  cosnam  vocare." 

There  is  a  slight  probability  of  Lord  Coke's  celebrated  appro- 
priation of  the  hours  of  a  lawyer's  day,  in  three  Latin  verses,  having 
been  suggested  by  Martial's  poetical  diaries.  Lord  Coke,  like  Martial, 
includes  in  his  enumeration,  praying,  eating  and  drinking,  reading, 
sleeping,  and,  like  him,  ends  with  the  Muses;  Lord  Coke's  and  the 
above  epigram  both  concluding  with  the  same  word  Camcenis.  In  an 
original  MS.  of  Sir  W.  Jones,  in  the  author's  possession,  Lord  Coke's 
epigram  is  thus  alternatively  translated,  in  Sir  W,  Jones's  hand- 
writing : — 

E.  C. 

be  six  address'd; 

Six  hours  to  sleep  allot,  to  law  the  same  applied; 
The  Muses  claim  the  rest. 

Pray  four,  feast  two,  the  Muse  claims  all  besides. 

Pliny  spent  his  time  in  a  very  different  way  from  Martial  in  the 
country  as  well  as  in  town:  with  regard  to  his  country  life  Pliny 
mentions  that  when  he  went  to  hunt,  he  always  took  with  him  his 
writing  materials,  being  sure  of  finding  Minerva  as  fond  of  traversing 
the  hills  as  Diana. 


ROMAN    LIFE.  153 

CXIII. 

A   RUSTIC   VILLA. 

Bassus!  the  villa  of  our  friend  Faustinus  is  not  encompassed 
by  an  extensive,  but  ungrateful  chanipain,  is  not  fashioned  with 
rows  of  unproductive  myrtle-trees,  nor  with  plane-trees  that 
support  no  vines,  nor  with  box  cut  into  every  variety  of  figure : 
but  it  is  delightful  because  it  is  pure  and  simple  country. 
Here,  Ceres  with  her  abundant  stores  is  closely  pressed  down  in 
every  angle  of  every  barn,  and  many  a  cask  is  fragrant  with 
the  produce  of  ancient  vintages.  Here,  when  Novembers  are 
past,  and  on  the  verge  of  winters  (briimct),  the  rough  pruning- 
man  brings  home  the  ripened  grapes ;  the  fierce  bulls  low  in 
the  deep  valley;  the  steers  are  itching  for  the  fight,  before 
yet  their  foreheads  are  armed  with  horns.  There  is  found 
wandering  the  whole  family  of  the  farm-yard,  the  shrill  goose, 
peacocks  with  their  jewelled  tails,  the  bird  (flamingo,  Lat. 
Phoenicopterus)  deriving  its  name  from  its  red  wings,  the 
painted  partridge,  the  spotted  African  fowl,  the  Colchian 
pheasant,  cocks  with  their  harems  of  Rhodian  hens.  The  tur- 
rets resound  with  plaudits  from  the  wings  of  pigeons ;  on  this 
side  the  turtle-doves,  on  the  other  the  ring-doves,  respond 
in  plaintive  notes.  The  greedy  swine  folloAV  the  well-filled 
apron-lap  of  the  bailiffs  wife;  the  tender  lamb  bleats  after 
its  mother  that  is  full  of  milk;  the  slave-children  cluster 
round  the  cheering  hearth,  where  abundant  wood  blazes  in 
honour  of  the  sacred  Lares.  The  victualler  does  not  grow  pale 
for  want  of  healthy  exercise,  nor,  as  he  might  do  in  the  city, 
waste  oil  in  anointing  himself  for  the  exercises  of  the  palw- 
stra;  but  he  stretches  out  the  treacherous  net  for  the  greedy 
fieldfares,  or  with  a  trembling  line  he  drags  to  land  the 
captured  fish,  or  brings  home  the  deer  entangled  in  the  toils ; 


154  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

the  garden  waves  its  cheerful  little  shadows ;  the  boys  of  the 
neighbourhood  are  zealous  to  work  at  the  command  of  the 
bailiff,  not  as  task  imposed  by  their  schoolmasters ;  the  rustic 
salutators  come  not  empty-handed;  one  brings  white  honey 
with  its  wax,  and  cheese  in  the  form  of  a  cone  made  of  milk 
from  the  Sassinian  wood;  another  holds  forth  slumbering 
dormice;  another  a  kid  crying  after  its  shaggy  mother; 
another  a  capon;  the  grown  daughters  of  honest  country- 
men bring  eggs  in  wicker  baskets.  The  neighbours,  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  day's  work,  are  invited  to  a  supper ;  nor  does 
a  stingy  table  keep  its  dainties  for  the  morrow;  all  are  fed 
without  exception,  and  the  satisfied  servant  does  not  envy 
the  intoxicated  guest.  But  you,  Bassus!  at  your  villa  in  the 
suburbs,  are  in  possession  of  mere  famine;  and  from  your 
lofty  turret  you  behold  nothing  but  barren  laurels.  You  are 
indeed  secure  in  this,  that  you  have  nothing  which  Priapus 
need  to  guard  from  thieves.  You  feed  your  vine-dresser  with 
city-bread;  and  you  indolently  carry  to  your  painted  villa 
vegetables,  eggs,  chickens,  apples,  cheese,  must  (unfermented 
wine).  Does  this  deserve  to  be  called  the  country?  Is  it  not 
rather  a  town-house  carried  to  a  distance? — Lib.  in.  Ep.  lviii. 

In  the  fifth  scene  of  Becker's  Gallus  is  a  particular  description 
both  of  an  ornamental  villa  after  the  city  fashion,  and  a  rustic  villa 
for  agricultural  purposes.  For  the  details  of  the  rustic  villa  he  has 
borrowed  largely  from  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  with  slight 
embellishments,  as,  for  instance,  instead  of  the  swine  following  the  lap 
of  the  bailiff's  wife,  Becker  makes  her  scatter  food  from  the  lap  of 
her  gown  to  the  whole  tribe  of  the  poultry-yard  that  are  cackling 
and  coaxing  round  her. 

Pope,  in  the  173rd  Number  of  the  Guardian,  writes,  "I  lately 
took  a  particular  friend  of  mine  to  my  house  in  the  country,  not 
without  some  apprehension  that  it  would  afford  little  entertainment 
to  a  man  of  his  polite  taste,  particularly  in  architecture  and  garden- 
ing, who  had  so  long  been  conversant  with  all  that  is  beautiful  or 
great  in  either.  But  it  was  a  pleasant  surprise  to  me  to  hear  him 
often  declare,  he  had  found  in  my  little  retirement  that  beauty  which 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  155 

he  always  thought  wanting  in  the  most  celebrated  seats,  or,  if  you 
will,  villas,  of  the  nation.  This  he  described  to  me  in  those  verses 
with  which  Martial  begins  one  of  his  epigrams : 

Our  friend  Faustinus'  country-seat  I've  seen: 
No  myrtles  placed  in  rows,  and  idly  green, 
No  widow'd  platane,  nor  dipt  box-tree  there 
The  useless  soil  unprofitably  share: 
But  simpler  nature's  hand,  with  nobler  grace, 
Diffuses  artless  beauties  o'er  the  place. 

There  is  certainly  something  in  the  amiable  simplicity  of  un- 
adorned nature  that  spreads  over  the  mind  a  more  noble  sort  of  tran- 
quillity, and  a  loftier  sensation  of  pleasure,  than  can  be  raised  from 
the  nicer  scenes  of  art.  This  was  the  taste  of  the  ancients  in  their 
gardens,  as  we  may  discover  from  the  descriptions  extant  of  them." 

After  referring  to  the  description  of  a  garden  by  Yirgil,  and  to 
Alcinous's  garden  in  Homer,  Pope  concludes  with  a  burlesque  de- 
scription of  the  practice,  in  his  day,  of  cutting  trees  into  fantastic 
shapes,  of  specimens  of  which  he  gives  a  humorous  catalogue. 

Pope  is  scarcely  justified  in  representing  the  passage  he  quotes  as 
affording  a  type  of  Roman  gardening.  It  would  seem  that  Faustinus 
had  sunk  the  vocation  of  an  horticulturist  in  that  of  a  farmer. 
Martial  has  left  us  descriptions  of  several  villas  essentially  different 
in  their  character  from  that  of  Faustinus.  It  would  appear,  from 
Pliny's  letters,  that  gardening  among  the  Romans  partook  of  an 
excess  of  ornament,  the  boxes  and  myrtles  with  which  a  garden 
abounded  being  often  cut  into  a  multitude  of  shapes  representing 
men,  animals,  or  inscriptions,  whilst  the  fruit-trees  were  intermixed 
with  obelisks ;  garden-walks  were  perfumed  with  roses  or  violets,  and 
the  Romans  were  fond  of  extensive  beds  of  the  acanthus.  A  garden 
sometimes  contained  a  compartment  which  was  designed  to  represent 
uncultivated  country.  Horace  mentions  as  a  mark  of  the  luxury  of 
his  day,  that  the  bachelor  plane-tree  was  driving  out  the  elm  that 
was  serviceable  for  vines.  Martial  has  an  epigram  on  a  boy  who  put 
his  hand  into  the  mouth  of  a  bear  cut  in  box-wood,  when  he  was 
stung  to  death  by  an  adder,  the  poet  observing  that  it  might  have 
been  safer  for  the  boy  if  the  bear  had  been  real. 

The  33rd  Number  of  the  Connoisseur  has,  for  a  motto,  the  five 
concluding  lines  of  the  above  epigram,  with  the  following  version : 


156  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

A  little  country  box  you  boast, 
So  neat,  'tis  cover'd  all  with  dust, 
And  nought  about  it  to  be  seen 
Except  a  nettle-bed,  that's  green. 
Your  Yilla!    rural  but  the  name  in, 
So  desert  it  would  breed  a  famine, 
Hither,  on  Sundays,  you  repair, 
While  heaps  of  viaDds  load  the  chair, 
With  poultry  brought  from  Leadenhall, 
-And  cabbage  from  the  huxster's  stall. 
'Tis  not  the  country,  you  must  own, 
'Tis  only  London  out  of  town. 

The  Paper  is  interesting  as  exhibiting  a  representation,  probably 
somewhat  exaggerated,  of  citizens'  boxes  and  of  the  habits  and  tastes 
of  the  trading  community  of  London,  in  regard  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  country,  in  the  year  1754. 

Several  passages  in  the  above  epigram  of  Martial  are  imitated  in 
Ben  Jonson's  poem  on  Penshurst,  as  thus : 

There's  none  that  dwell  about  them,  wish  them  down, 

But  all  come  in,  the  farmer  and  the  clown, 

And  no  one  empty-handed,  to  salute 

Thy  Lord  and  Lady,  though  they  have  no  suit. 

Some  bring  a  capon,  some  a  bridal  cake, 

Some  nuts,  some  apples;  some  that  think  they  make 

The  better  cheeses,  bring  them,  or  else  send 

By  their  ripe  daughters,  whom  they  would  commend 

This  way  to  husbands;    and  whose  baskets  bear 

An  emblem  of  themselves  in  plum  or  pear. 

But  what  can  this  (more  than  express  their  love) 

Add  to  thy  free  provisions,  far  above 

The  need  of  such?    whose  liberal  board  doth  flow 

With  all  that  hospitality  doth  know  ! 

Where  comes  no  guest  but  is  allowed  to  eat 

Without  his  fear,  and  of  thy  Lord's  own  meat  : 

Where  the  same  beer,  and  bread,  and  self- same  wine 

That  is  his  Lordship's,  shall  be  also  thine. 

And  I  not  fain,  to  sit  (as  some  this  day 

At  great  men's  tables),  and  yet  dine  away. 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  157 

Here  no  man  tells  my  cups,  nor,  standing  by 
A  waiter,  doth  my  gluttony  envy ; 
But  gives  me  what  I  call,  and  lets  me  eat, 
He  knows,  below,  lie  shall  find  plenty  of  meat ; 
Thy  tables  hoard  not  up  for  the  next  day. 

Jonson  has  embellished  his  picture  by  the  representation  of  guests 
not  partaking  of  their  host's  meat;  this. kind  of  meanness  he  may 
have  introduced  from  numerous  epigrams  of  Martial,  and  from 
Pliny's  letters.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  practice  was 
formerly  not  unknown  in  England,  as,  in  the  instance  of  Bishop 
Hall's  trencher  chaplain,  who  was  not  allowed  to  sit  above  the  salt. 
The  Bishop  also  writes,  apparently  with  allusion  to  Martial's  waiter : 

What  though  he  quaff  pure  amber  in  his  bowl 
Of  March-brew'd  wheat,  yet  slack  my  thirsting  soul 
With  palish  oat  frothing  in  Boston  clay; 
And,  if  he  list,  revive  his  heartless  grain 
With  some  French  grape,  or  pure  Canariane: 
When  pleasing  Bourdeaux  falls  into  his  lot, 
Some  sourish  Bochelle  cuts  thy  thirsting  throat. 
What  though  himself  craveth  his  welcome  friend 
With  a  cool'd  pittance  from  his  trenchers'  end. 
What  though  the  scornful  waiter  looks  askile, 
And  pouts,  and  frowns,  and  curseth  thee  the  while, 
And  takes  his  farewell,  with  a  jealous  eye 
At  every  morsel  he  his  last  shall  see. 
What  of  all  this?     Is't  not  enough  to  say, 
I  din'd  at  Virro  his  own  board  to-day  1 

Jonson's  dinner  with  and,  at  the  same  time,  away  from  a  great 
man,  is  borrowed  from  another  epigram  of  Martial : 

Cur  sine  te  coeno,  cum  tecum,  Pontice,  ccenam. 
And  the  telling  of  his  cups,  from  another, 

Et  numeras  nostros  adstricta  fronte  trientes. 


158  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [cH. 


CXIV. 

REX,   AND   SALUTATIONS. 

I  lay  snares,  I  am  ashamed  of  it,  but  still  I  lay  snares, 
Maximus,  for  your  dinner ;  you  lay  snares  to  catch  another's ; 
in  this  therefore  we  are  a  pair  (swrrns  ergo  pares) ;  I  go  in  a 
morning  to  perform  my  salutation  to  you ;  you  are  reported 
to  have  left  home  just  before  for  the  purpose  of  saluting 
another.  We  are  therefore,  in  this  also,  a  pair.  I  walk  as 
your  attendant,  or  am  the  anteambulo  (runner  before  a  litter) 
of  a  puffed-up  Rex  (patron).  You  trudge  as  the  subservient 
companion  of  another  Rex.  We  are  therefore,  in  this,  likewise 
a  pair.  It  is  mean  enough  to  be  a  servant ;  I  do  not  like  to 
be  a  servant's  servant.  A  Rex  ought  not  to  have  over  him 
another  Rex. — Lib.  n.  Ep.  xvm. 

Becker,  in  the  second  scene  of  his   Gallus,  gives  the  following 
description  of  making  salutations  at  Rome,  for  which  he  is  consider- 
ably indebted  to  Martial  in  the  above  and  other  epigrams :    "  The 
vestibulum  had  already  begun  to  be  filled  with  a  multitude  of  visitors, 
who  came  to  pay  their  customary  morning  salutation  to  their  patron. 
The  persons  who  presented  themselves  not  only   differed  in  their 
grades,  but  also  in  the  motives  of  their  attendance.     Citizens  of  the 
inferior  class,  who  received  support  from  the  hand  of  Gallus ;  young 
men  of  family,  who  expected  to  make  their  fortunes  through  the 
favourite  of  Augustus ;  poor  poets  and  idlers,  who  looked  to  a  com- 
pensation for  these  early  attentions,  by  a  place  at  the  board  of  Gallus, 
or  contented  themselves  with  a  share  of  the  diurnal  sportula;  a  few 
friends  really  attached  to  him  from  gratitude  or  affection;  and,  no 
doubt,  some  vain  fellows,  who  felt  so  flattered  at  having  admission  to  a 
house  of  distinction,  that  they  disregarded  the  inconvenience  of  dancing 
attendance  thus  early  before  the  door  of  their  dominus  or  rex,  and 
waited  impatiently  for  the  moment  when  they  were  to  be  admitted. 
For  this  was  not  the  only  visit  of  the  kind  they  intended  to  make 
this  morning;  and  there  were  some  even  with  whom  this  made  the 
the  second  or  third  door  visited  already." 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  159 

The  duties  exacted  by  a  Rex  from  his  clients,  after  their  morning 
visit,  are  thus  detailed  by  Martial  in  an  epigram  frequently  quoted 
by  Becker,  in  which  Martial  begs  of  his  Rex  to  allow  of  his  freedman 
acting  as  his  deputy,  alleging  that  he  has  a  louder  voice  for  crying 
sophos  when  his  Rex  is  speaking  than  himself,  can  make  way  with 
his  elbows  through  a  crowd  for  his  Rex's  sedan  better,  and,  in  case  of 
a  quarrel  in  the  streets,  is  master  of  a  larger  vocabulary  of  abuse.  In 
another  place  Martial  complains  of  the  time  occupied  in  following 
and  bringing  home  his  Bex;  saying  that  in  order  to  swell  the  number 
of  his  gownsmen,  the  number  of  his  own  books  was  diminished,  con- 
cluding that  such  was  the  tax  paid  by  a  poet  who  disliked  supping  at 
home  (cum  ccenare  domi  non  vult  poeta). 

The  above  epigram  has  received  a  modern  application  in  English 
medallic  history.  One  of  the  remarkable  medals  struck  on  the  occasion 
of  the  assassination  of  Sir  Edmundbury  Godfrey  in  furtherance  of  the 
Popish  Plot,  relates  to  the  evidence  against  Green,  Hill  and  Bury, 
who  were  hanged  for  murdering  that  Protestant  Magistrate.  The 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution  stated,  that  after  the  murder  of  Sir 
Edmundbury  Godfrey  his  body  was  taken  from  London  to  Greenberry 
Hill,  (a  singular  coincidence  between  the  names  of  the  locality  and  of 
the  three  supposed  murderers),  and  that  it  was  there  left  in  a  position 
to  favour  a  belief  of  his  having  committed  suicide  with  his  own  sword ; 
thus  representing  him  as  walking  up  hill  after  he  had,  in  fact,  been 
murdered.  The  medal,  on  its  face,  exhibits  St  Denys  carrying  his  head 
down  hill  (from  Montmartre  to  St  Denys),  agreeably  to  the  legend, 
and  bears  an  inscription  "  Denys  walks  down  hill  carrying  his  head;" 
whilst,  on  the  reverse,  Sir  E.  Godfrey  is  represented  walking  up 
Greenberry-hill,  his  dead  body  lying  at  a  distance,  with  an  inscription, 
"  Godfrey  walks  up  hill  after  he  is  dead."  The  face  also  bears  an 
inscription  "  Sumus,"  and  the  reverse  that  of  " Ergo  pares." 

The  last  line  of  this  epigram  was  quoted  by  Sir  Robert  Atkyns 
in  his  tract,  wherein  he  censures  the  decision  of  Chief-Justice  Herbert 
and  his  colleagues,  on  the  subject  of  the  Dispensing  Power.  Chief- 
Justice  Herbert  had  laid  down  as  the  first  position  in  his  judgment 
on  the  Dispensing  Power,  that  "  The  Kings  of  England  are  Sovereign 
Princes."  Sir  R.  Atkyns  allows  that  this  position  is  true  in  one 
sense,  viz.  that  the  King  is  Sovereign  as  having  "no  superior  on 
earth,  according  to  Martial,  Qui  Rex  est,  Begem  (Maxime)  non  habeat; 


160  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

but  the  King  is  not  a  Sovereign  in  the  sense  of  being  exempt  from 
the  reprisal  of  law,  an  absolute  King."  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse 
mi  the  Supreme  Civil  Power,  says  that  it  is  "  accountable  to  no  man 
whatever  it  does.     Qui  Rex  est,  Reg  em,  Maxime,  non  habeat." 

Selden,  in  his  Titles  of  Honour,  mentions  that  "  when  Pope  Pius 
Y.  would  have  made  Cosmo  de  Medici,  Duke  of  Florence,  King  of 
the  same  State,  the  Emperor  Maximilian  answered  directly  to  the 
French  King's  ambassador  about  it,  Non  habet  Italia  Regem  nisi 
Ccesarem,  according  to  that  of  Martial : 

Qui  Rex  est,  Begem,  Maxime,  non  habeat." 


cxv. 

HOW   TO   LIVE  WITHOUT   A   REX. 

Do  not  deem  me  presumptuous  that  I  salute  you  by 
your  simple  name,  whereas  I  used  formerly  to  call  you 
Dominus  and  Rex.  I  have  purchased  my  cap  of  liberty  by 
means  of  the  sale  of  all  my  chattels  (which  enables  me  to 
live  without  your  sportula).  That  man  ought  to  have 
Lords  and  Kings  who  does  not  himself  possess,  but 
covets  what  Domini  and  Reges  court.  Olus !  if  you  can 
live  without  a  Servus,  you  can  live  without  a  Rex. — 
Lib.  11.  Up.  lxviii. 

The  epigram  is  thus  translated  by  Cowley: 

That  I  do  you  with  humble  bows  no  more 
And  danger  of  my  naked  head  adore, 
That  I  who  Lord  and  Master  cried  erewhile, 
Salute  you  in  a  new  and  different  style 
By  your  own  name,  a  scandal  to  you  now, 
Think  not  that  I  forget  myself,  or  you. 
By  loss  of  all  things  that  all  others  sought, 
This  freedom,  and  the  freeman's  hat  is  bought. 


IV.  j  ROMAN    LIFE.  161 

A  Lord  and  Master  no  man  wants,  but  he 
Who  o'er  himself  has  no  authority. 
Who  does  for  honours  and  for  riches  strive, 
And  follies  without  which  Lords  cannot  live. 
If  thou  from  Fortune  dost  no  servant  crave, 
Believe  it,  thou  no  Master  need'st  to  have. 

Shenstone  has  given  the  following  paraphrase  of  the  last  two  lines 
of  the  above  epigram,  which  he  quotes, 

Servum  si  potes,  Ole,  non  habere, 
Et  Begem  potes,  Ole,  non  habere, 
in  an  epigram  entitled,  "  The  Price  of  an  Equipage,"  wherein,  after 
rather  a  tedious  description  of  a  person  who  keeps  a  splendid  equip- 
age on  the  wages  of  corruption,  he  concludes : 

Thus  does  our  false  ambition  rule  us, 
Thus  pomp  delude,  and  folly  fool  us, 
To  keep  a  race  of  fluttering  knaves, 
He  grows  himself  the  worst  of  slaves. 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogues  on  Medals,  treats  of  the  representation 
of  the  figure  of  Liberty  on  the  reverse  of  a  coin  of  Galba,  which  bears 
an  inscription  Libertas  publica,  S.  G.  He  observes  that  the  figure  of 
Liberty  carries,  in  her  left  hand,  a  wand,  which  the  Latins  call  the 
rudis  or  vindicta,  and,  in  her  right,  the  Cap  of  Liberty.  He  writes 
that  he  shall  quote  Martial  for  the  latter ;  and,  accordingly,  adduces 
the  commencement  of  the  above  epigram  with  a  poetical  version : 

By  thy  plain  name  though  now  addrest, 

Though  once  my  King  and  Lord  confest, 

Frown  not:  with  all  my  goods  I  buy 

The  precious  cap  of  liberty. 


CXVI. 

SEATS  AT  THE  THEATRE. 

(I.) 
The  Edict   of  our   Lord  and  of  our   God  for   a    dis- 
tribution of  seats  in  the  theatre,  and  by  which  the  Knight 

MART.  M 


162  MARTIAL   AND   THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

enjoys  a  place  that  is  pure  from  the  mixture  of  the 
vulgar,  is  loudly  applauded  by  Phasis  dressed  and  glowing 
in  a  purple  lacerna,  and  sitting  among  the  Knights.  He 
proudly  enlarges  on  the  merits  of  the  Edict  in  a  pom- 
pous voice.  "At  length/'  he  says,  "it  is  allowed  to  sit 
more  commodiously ;  at  length  the  equestrian  dignity  is 
restored ;  we  are  not  pressed  or  soiled  by  the  mob."  Whilst 
Phasis  is  ranting  in  this  strain,  and  lolling  with  his 
back  on  a  cushion,  Lectius  (the  officer  whose  business  it 
was  to  see  that  none  of  inferior  rank  intruded  into  the 
seats  of  the  Knights)  ordered  those  purple  and  arrogant 
laeernce  to  rise  (and  the  wearer  betakes  himself  to  a 
more  ignoble  part  of  the  theatre). — Lib.  v.  Ep.  viii. 

(ii.) 
Manneius  was  accustomed  to  sit  in  the  first  row  of  the 
theatre,  before  Domitian  revived  the  law  appropriating  seats 
to  the  Knights.  Twice  and  a  third  time  being  turned  out 
by  Lectius,  he  removed  his  camp,  and  posted  himself  close 
behind  the  Knights  Caius  and  Lucius,  and  just  within  the 
select  seats.  There,  for  a  while,  he  beheld  the  games  with 
one  eye  peeping  from  under  a  hood.  But,  again,  he  was 
ejected,  and  was  compelled,  in  a  state  of  despondency,  to 
pass  into  the  standing  way.  Nevertheless,  here,  also,  he  leant 
over  the  rail  of  the  last  row  of  Knights,  and  kneeling  un- 
comfortably on  one  knee,  he  pretended  to  the  Knights  that 
he  was  sitting  among  them,  and  to  Lectius,  that  he  was 
standing. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xiv. 

Selden,  in  his  Titles  of  Honour,  in  mentioning  the  instances  of 
the  appellation  of  God  being  given  to  princes,  observes  that  "  Domi- 
tian and  some  more  Koman  emperors  were  in  their  styles  solemnly 
called  Gods;  and  Martial  hath  with  regard  to  Domitian, 
Edictum  Domini,  Deiqne  nostri." 

Tertullian,  in  his  Treatise  on  the  Spectacles,  observes,  "  Nam  apud 
spectacula  et  in  vid  statur"    His  Cambridge  editor,  in  a  note  on  the 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  163 

word  statur,  illustrates  it  by  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  and  par- 
ticularly by  the  line, 

Equiti  sedere;  Lectioque  se  stare. 

Martial  was  very  proud  of  his  seat  at  the  theatre, 
Et  sedeo  qua  te  suscitat  Oceanus. 


CXVII. 

SLAVES. 


One  ringlet  belonging  to  a  knot  of  hair  was  out  of 
its  place,  not  having  been  properly  fixed  by  the  erring 
needle.  Lalage  perceived  this  crime  in  her  hand-mirror, 
and,  forthwith,  avenged  it  by  striking  to  the  ground,  with 
the  mirror  she  was  holding,  her  waiting-woman  Plecusa,  and 
cutting  off  her  hair.  Cease,  henceforth,  Lalage,  to  employ 
waiting-maids  for  adorning  your  locks  or  touching  your 
insane  head.  Eradicate  your  hairs  with  the  blood  of 
Salamanders,  or  shave  them  with  a  razor,  so  that  your 
looking-glass  may  always  reflect  an  image  worthy  of  itself 
and  yourself.— Lib.  n.  Ep.  lxvi. 

(ii.) 
Why,  Ponticus !    do    you  pretend  that  some  unknown 
person  has  cut  out  your  slaves  tongue?    Do  not  you  know 
that  the  people  will  tell  what  he  cannot? — Lib.  n.  Ep.  lxxxii. 

(in.) 
A  domestic  slave,  who  had  been  branded  on  the  forehead 
by  his  master  (frontc  notatus),  preserved  the  life  of  that 
master  when  proscribed, — I  say  that  the  master,  by  his  slave's 
act,  had  his  life  preserved  less  signally,  than  the  memory  of 
his  cruelty.— Lib.  in.  Ep.  xxi. 

m2 


164  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

(IV.) 

Do  you  behold  that  man  occupying  one  of  the  seats  of 
the  theatre  set  apart  for  the  Knights,  whose  hand  shines 
with  a  ring  (the  appendage  of  Roman  Knighthood)  of  sar- 
donyx, whose  laeerna  has  been  deeply  dyed  in  Tyrian  purple, 
and  whose  toga  underneath  is  bid  to  surpass  in  whiteness 
the  untrodden  snow,  whose  hair  smells  of  the  whole  shop 
of  the  perfumer  Marcelianus,  whose  arms  look  polished  by 
the  eradication  of  every  hair;  no  vulgar  latchet  fastens  his 
shoes,  which  exhibit  a  token  of  nobility  in  the  form  of  a 
half-moon ;  his  foot,  although  it  has  nothing  the  matter  with 
it,  is  bound  round  with  scarlet  leather.  Numerous  plasters, 
cut  like  stars,  anoint  his  forehead.  Do  you  not  know  who 
this  is?  Take  away  his  plasters,  you  will  read  (i.e.  will  read 
the  letters  of  a  branded  slave). — Lib.  n.  Ep.  xxix. 

(V.) 

When  you  gave  your  last  supper,  Rufus!  you  pretended 
that  the  hare  was  underdone,  and  you  called  for  the  whips. 
I  suspect  that  you  preferred  cutting  (scindere)  your  cook  to 
cutting  {scindere)  your  hare. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  xciv. 

(VI.) 

If  your  slave  has  committed  a  fault,  do  not  knock  out 
his  teeth  with  your  fist;  give  him  a  copta  from  Rhodes  to 
eat. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  lxviii.  (Copta,  devices  of  pastry,  very 
hard,  and  especially  so,  if  brought  from  a  distance;  they 
were  distributed  among  guests,  to  be  taken  away  with 
them.) 

Becker,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Gallus,  when  treating  of  the  slave 
family,  notices  that  the  maids  who  dressed  the  Roman  ladies  seldom 
escaped  from  the  toilet  without  being  beaten,  scratched,  or  torn  and 
pricked  with  needles;  among  other  examples  of  which  he  cites  the 
epigram  concerning  Plecusa,  with  a  parallel  passage  from  Juvenal. 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  165 

He  might  have  adduced  several  of  Martial's  epigrams  on  the  sub- 
ject of  cutting  cooks,  or,  as  in  one  place  it  is  said, 

Bumpisque  coquum,  tanquam  omnia  cruda. 

The  letters  branded  on  the  foreheads  of  slaves  were  called  stig- 
mata, and  the  slaves  so  disfigured,  notati  (as  in  the  third  of  the 
above  epigrams),  inscripti,  literati;  as  to  which  Becker  observes, 
with  reference  to  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams,  that  the  stigmata 
remained  visible  for  life,  and  many  who  afterwards  became  free  and 
rich  tried  to  hide  them  with  plasters.  He  also  refers  to  another 
epigram  of  Martial,  in  which  mention  is  made  of  one  Heros,  who 
practised  the  effacing  of  former  brandings  of  slaves  {Tristia  servorum 
stigmata  delet  Heros).  Ben  Jonson  appears  to  have  reference  to  Mar- 
tial's Splenia  and  his  Heros,  in  the  play  of  the  Poetaster : 

I  could  stamp 
Their  foreheads  with  those  deep  and  public  brands, 
That  the  whole  company  of  barber-surgeons 
Should  not  take  off  with  all  their  art  and  plasters. 

Becker  concludes  his  Excursus  on  the  subject  of  Roman  slavery 
with  observing,  that  whoever  wishes  to  have  a  more  intimate  ac- 
quaintance than  he  has  afforded  with  the  dark  side  of  slave-life  at 
Rome,  may  find  it  in  the  pages  of  Juvenal  and  Martial ;  an  observa- 
tion which  the  above  epigrams  may  suffice  to  confirm. 


CXVIIL 

MANUMISSION. 


That  amanuensis,  once  faithful  to  my  studies,  and  a 
source  of  happiness  to  his  master,  whose  penmanship  was 
known  also  to  the  Csesars,  my  Demetrius,  has  been  taken 
away  in  his  first  green  years.  His  age  was  three  lustres 
and  four  harvests  (nineteen  years).  But,  that  he  should 
not  descend  in  the  condition  of  a  slave  to  the  Stygian 
shades,  when  pestilence  should  have  consumed  its  victim, 


166  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

was  my  especial  care.  I  remitted  to  him  on  his  sick  bed 
all  the  rights  of  ownership;  he  was  worthy  to  have  been 
cured  by  my  gift.  Fainting  as  he  was,  he  felt  sensible 
of  his  reward,  and,  when  on  the  point  of  departure  for 
the  infernal  waters  in  the  condition  of  a  freedman,  he 
called  me  by  the  name  of  Patron. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  en. 

Barrington,  in  his  Observations  on  the  Ancient  Statutes,  in  treating 
of  a  statute  of  Richard  II.,  which  enacts  that  all  manumissions  made 
during  the  insurrections  of  Wat  Tyler  and  Jack  Cade  to  villeins 
should  be  void,  adverts  to  the  strict  forms  observed  by  the  Romans 
in  their  manumission  of  slaves.  He  observes  that  "  the  Romans  had 
a  custom  of  enfranchising  their  slaves  just  before  their  death,  which, 
I  believe,  has  not  been  taken  notice  of  by  those  who  have  written  in 
illustration  of  the  civil  law ;"  and  he  quotes  the  last  six  lines  of  the 
above  epigram. 

Martial  has  an  epigram  on  the  advantages  of  a  slave,  Condylus, 
over  his  master  Caius,  a  light  in  which  Condylus  appears  not  to  have 
viewed  the  matter :  he  has  also  another  epigram,  showing  the  reasons 
why  a  fever  would  not  quit  a  master  to  lodge  with  his  slave. 


CXIX. 

A  SLAVE-FOOL. 


(i.) 
He  was  called  a  natural  Fool  (morio);   I   bought  him 
as    such,   for  twenty   thousand   sesterces.     Give    me    back 
my  money,  Gargilianus,  "this  fellow  is  no  fool." — Lib.  vin. 
Ep.  xiii. 

(ii.) 
His  stupidity  is  not  from  art,  but  from  nature :  whoever 
is  not  over- wise,  is  wise. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  ccx. 

Becker,  in  his  Disquisition  on  the  Slave  Family,   observes  that 
the  Moriones  were  originally  Cretins;    at   least   the  term   compre- 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  167 

hends  not  only  absurdity  but  deformity ;  and  Martial  (vi.  39)  de- 
scribes one  with  sharp  head  and  long  ears,  which  moved  like  the  ears 
of  asses;  but  their  absurdity  was  the  chief  point,  and  the  stupider 
they  were,  the  more  valuable,  as  affording  most  opportunity  for 
laughter.  He  mentions  that  Seneca  kept  several  moriones  in  his 
house  j  and  he  cites  the  above  epigram  in  proof  of  the  price  of  a 
Roman  morio.  This  price  may  be  supposed  to  have  varied  with  the 
use  made  of  the  morio.  In  one  instance  Martial  mentions  that  a 
little  morio  was .  the  bearer  of  kisses,  whilst  wet,  between  lovers, 
when  incommoded  by  the  presence  of  a  de  trop. 

The  second  epigram,  of  which  the  last  line  of  the  original  is, 
Quisquis  plus  justo  non  sapit,  ille  sapit, 
may  possibly  have  suggested  Gray's  paradox, 

Where  ignorance  is  bliss, 
'Tis  folly  to  be  wise. 


cxx. 

SATURNALIA. 


(L) 

Nothing  is  more  dissolute  than  the  conduct  of  Chari- 
sianus :  he  walks  about,  during  the  Saturnalia,  in  his  toga, — 
Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xxiv. 

(ii.) 
Now  the  chap-fallen  youth  is  obliged  to  relinquish  his 
nuts,  on  his  recall  to  school  by  his  clamorous  master;  and 
the  inebriated  gambler  is  seized  in  some  secret  tavern,  where 
he  is  betrayed  by  the  rattling  of  his  dice-box  to  the  scdile 
whom  he  is  beseeching.  The  whole  Saturnalia  are  past.  And 
yet,  Galla,  you  have  not  sent  me  any  small  little  gifts,  not 
even  such  as  are  less  than  those  which  you  were  in  the 
habit  of  sending.    Thus,  indeed,  may  my  December  fly  away : 


168  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

but  you  will  not  forget  that  your  Saturnalia  (season  for 
making  presents  to  women)  are  now  approaching,  then 
Galla,  I  will  return  to  you  what  you  have  given.  (Pay  you 
in  your  own  coin.) — Lib.  v.  Ep.  lxxxv. 

(in.) 

To  have  sent  a  six-ounce  weight,  or  a  gaudy  toga  worth 
ten  scruples  of  silver,  is  deemed  luxury,  and  puffed  up 
Reges  call  it  a  donation.  There  is,  at  most,  one  in  Rome 
who  rattles  gold  coins.  Be  you  a  friend,  0  Csesar,  since 
this  sort  of  people  are  not;  surely  no  virtue  of  a  Prince, 
can,  in  its  exercise,  be  sweeter.  Long  before  I  have  said 
so  much,  you  smile,  Germanieus  (a  name  by  which  Domitian 
liked  to  be  called),  with  a  tacit  nose,  signifying  that  my 
advice  tends  to  my  own  benefit. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  xx. 

Concerning  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams,  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a 
Discourse  upon  Christ's  Sermon  on  Humility,  after  quoting  Martial's 
lines,  observes,  "  Charisianus  walked  in  his  gown  in  the  feast  of  Saturn ; 
and,  when  all  Rome  was  let  loose  in  wantonness,  he  put  on  the  long 
robe  of  a  senator  and  a  severe  person,  and  yet  nothing  was  more  las- 
civious than  he."  Jeremy  Taylor  further  remarks,  that  "  the  devil 
Pride  prevails  sometimes  over  the  spirit  of  lust."  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  Jeremy  Taylor  has  apprehended  the  point  of  the  epigram,  by 
which  it  would  seem  to  be  insinuated  that,  whereas  upon  occasions  of 
ceremony  or  official  business  Roman  citizens  (and  not  merely  senators) 
would  be  deemed  dissolute  (lascivi)  if  they  did  not  wear  the  toga; 
so  a  Roman  who  wore  his  toga  when  the  rest  of  his  fellow-citizens 
walked  about  in  their  tunics,  might  be  called  dissolute  (as  Raderus 
has  it,  quasi  per  lasciviam  contra  morem  incederet),  not  with  reference 
to  his  previous  character,  but  because  he  did  not  do  as  they  did  at 
Rome.  Martial  describes  Rome,  during  the  Saturnalia,  as  wearing 
the  cap  of  liberty,  pileata  Roma ;  it  appears  from  this  epigram  that 
it  was  also  tunicata. 

With  regard  to  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams,  Jeremy  Taylor, 
after  quoting  from  Seneca,  that  pleasure  sneaks  up  and  down  to 


IV.]  ROMAN   LIFE.  169 

baths  and  sweating-houses,  and  places  that  fear  the  presence  of  the 
jEdile,  writes,  "which  we  learn  from  Martial, 

Arcana  modo  raptus  a  popina, 
^Edilem  rogat  udiis  aleator. 

The  dice-player,  half  drunk,  newly  snatched  from  his  tavern  or  ordi- 
nary, beseeches  the  sedile  for  money.'"  It  must  be  recollected  that 
games  of  mere  chance  were  prohibited  by  law  (vetita  legibus  aled), 
except  only  during  the  Saturnalia.  The  commentators  appear  to 
have  conceived  that  the  moistened  {udus)  gambler  asked  for  pardon, 
and  not  for  money :  it  may  be  thought  that  to  have  asked  the  aedile 
for  money,  he  must  have  been  very  drunk. 

In  reference  to  the  third  epigram,  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse 
on  Conscience,  writes,  "  That  determination  is  to  be  suspected  which 
does  apparently  serve  an  interest,  and  but  obscurely  serves  a  pious 

end. 

Utile  quod  nobis  do  tibi  consilium. 

The  propositions  of  the  Church  of  Rome  do  evidently  serve  the  ends 

of  covetousness  and  ambition,  of  power  and  riches,  and  therefore  stand 

vehemently  suspected  of  contrivance  and  art,  rather  than  piety,  or 

truth  of  the  articles,  or  designs  upon  heaven." 

Sir  E.  Lytton,  in  his  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  makes  his  ^Edile 

pretend  to  turn  aside  his  face  at  a  dinner-party  in  August,  when  dice 

are  introduced  out  of  season. 


CXXI. 

DINNER  CHARTS. 


(i.) 
The  eighth  hour  is  being  announced  to  the  Pharian 
Heifer  (Isis)  by  her  bare-headed  priests,  who,  after  their 
daily  search  for  Osiris,  are  at  this  prescribed  time  re- 
entering their  temple  in  the  Campus  Martius.  At  this 
hour  of  the  day  the  public  baths  are  of  a  fit  tempera- 
ture for  bathing;  at  the  seventh  hour  they  emit  too 
much  vapour;   at  the    sixth,   the  heat  of  Nero's  baths   is 


170  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

intolerable.  Stella,  Nepos,  Canus,  Cerealis,  Flaccus,  come  to 
dine  with  me!  My  Sigma  (dinner-couch  in  the  fashion  of, 
the  Greek  letter  Sigma)  has  room  for  seven;  we  are  six, 
add  Lupus.  My  bailiff's  wife  has  brought  me  mallows  to 
aid  digestion,  and  other  treasures  of  the  garden;  among 
which  is  the  sedative  lettuce  (lactuca,  of  which  there  were 
five  sorts)  and  leek  for  slicing,  mint  good  for  wind  on 
the  stomach,  and  stimulative  rockets.  Slices  of  eggs  shall 
cover  anchovies  dressed  with  sauce  of  rue,  and  there 
shall  be  sow's  paps  moistened  with  the  saline  liquor  of 
tunny-fish.  Then  shall  be  served  up  a  small  kid  snatched 
from  the  mouth  of  a  savage  wolf,  of  a  size  for  one 
table,  and  one  supper;  cutlets  which  do  not  stand  in 
need  of  the  carver's  knife;  beans  cooked  with  herbs;  and 
sprouts  dressed  plain.  To  these  a  chicken  shall  be  added, 
and  a  flitch  of  bacon  which  has  survived  three  suppers. 
When  your  appetites  are  satiated,  I  will  place  before  you 
mellow  apples.  You  shall  have  a*  flagon  of  Nomentanian 
wine  without  dregs,  which  was  new  in  the  second  con- 
sulship of  Frontinus.  To  crown  all,  there  shall  be  sallies 
of  wit  without  gall,  liberty  of  speech,  not  creating  fear 
on  the  next  morning,  and  no  discussion  in  which  you 
could  afterwards  wish  you  had  not  taken  a  part.  My  guest 
may  express  his  candid  opinion  of  Prasinus  and  Venetus 
(rival  factions  of  the  Circus) ;  nor  shall  my  cups  bring  on 
any  one  a  criminal  accusation. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xlviii. 

(ii.) 
Cerealis,  you  may  have  a  good  dinner  with  me  to- 
day; if  you  are  not  otherwise  engaged,  come!  You  will 
be  able  to  keep  the  eighth  hour,  when  we  will  just  go  to 
the  same  Baths.  You  know  how  near  the  Baths  of  Ste- 
phanus  are  to  my  house.  My  bill  of  fare  is  as  follows:  in 
the  first  course  will  be  served  lettuce  and  leek-strings  for 
whets   to  the  appetite;  next  will  come  tunny-fish,   of  an 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  171 

age  to  be  bigger  than  a  small  anchovy,  and  which  will 
be  smothered  with  eggs  and  leaves  of  rue:  neither  will 
there  be  wanting  other  eggs  lightly  boiled,  nor  cheese  hard- 
ened on  Yelabrian  hearths:  and  there  will  be  olives  which 
have  felt  a  Picenian  winter.  I  have  said  enough  for  the 
gustus,  do  you  want  to  know  the  rest?  I  will  exaggerate, 
if  it  will  tempt  you  to  come:  there  will  be  great  fishes, 
shell-fish,  sow's  paps,  plump  birds  both  from  the  poultry- 
yard  and  from  the  marshes; — dainties  which  Stella  does 
not  place  before  his  guests  except  on  rare  festivals.  I 
promise  more — I  will  recite  nothing,  even  though  you  should 
recite  to  me  over  and  over  again  your  poem  of  the  Giants, 
or  your  Georgics,  second  only  to  those  of  immortal  Virgil. — 
Lib.  xi.  Ep.  liii. 

It  may  be  observed,  in  explanation  of  the  above  epigrams,  that, 
according  to  Becker,  a  complete  Roman  ccena  consisted  of  the  gustus, 
or  whet,  the  fercula  or  courses,  consisting  of  the  prima,  altera,  or 
tertia  ccena,  and  the  mensce  secundce,  or  desert.  Becker  derives  most 
of  these  details  from  an  epigram  of  Martial  on  a  host  who  gave  a 
supper  consisting  of  a  multitude  of  fanciful  dishes,  all  manufactured 
out  of  gourds.     Most  Englishmen  would  agree  with  Martial's  senti- 

o  o  o 

ment  on  the  gustus,  expressed  in  the  terms  of  the  civil  law  touching 
divorce : 

Dum  pinguis  mihi  turtur  erit,  lactuca,  valebis, 
Et  cochleas  tibi  habe,  perdere  nolo  famem. 

Ben  Jonson's  Invitation  of  a  Friend  to  Supper  is  a  close  imitation 
of  the  above  epigrams;  so  close,  and  so  Roman-like,  that  some  of 
the  lines  may  be  thought  mere  imitations,  not  intended  to  express 
realities : 

To-night,  grave  sir,  both  my  poor  house  and  I 

Do  equally  desire  your  company: 

Not  that  we  think  us  worthy  such  a  guest, 

But  that  your  worth  will  dignify  our  feast 

With  those  that  come;  whose  grace  may  make  that  seem 

Something,  which  else  would  hope  for  no  esteem. 


172  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

It  is  the  fair  acceptance,  sir,  creates 

The  entertainment  perfect,  not  the  cates. 

Yet  shall  you  have,  to  rectify  your  palate, 

An  olive,  capers,  or  some  better  salad 

Ushering  the  mutton:  with  a  short-legg'd  hen, 

If  we  can  get  her  full  of  eggs,  and  then, 

Lemons,  and  wine  for  sauce:  to  these,  a  coney 

Is  not  to  be  despair'd  of  for  our  money; 

And,  though  fowl  now  be  scarce,  yet  there  are  clerks, 

The  sky  not  falling,  think  we  may  have  larks. 

I'll  tell  you  of  more,  and  lie,  so  you  will  come: 

Of  partridge,  pheasant,  woodcock,  of  which  some 

May  yet  be  there;  and  godwit  if  we  can; 

Knat,  rail,  and  ruff  too.     Howsoe'er,  my  man 

Shall  read  a  piece  of  Yirgil,  Tacitus, 

Livy,  or  of  some  better  book  to  us, 

Of  which  we'll  speak  our  minds,  amidst  our  meat; 

And  Til  profess  no  verses  to  repeat: 

To  this  if  aught  appear,  which  I  not  know  of, 

That  will  the  pastry,  not  my  paper,  show  of. 

Digestive  cheese,  and  fruit  there  sure  will  be; 

But  that  which  most  doth  take  my  muse  and  me, 

Is  a  pure  cup  of  rich  Canary  wine, 

Which  is  the  Mermaid's  now,  but  shall  be  mine: 

Of  which  had  Horace  or  Anacreon  tasted, 

Their  lives,  as  do  their  lines,  till  now  had  lasted. 

Tobacco,  nectar,  or  the  Thespian  spring, 

Are  all  but  Luther's  beer,  to  this  I  sing. 

Of  this  we  will  sup  free,  but  moderately, 

And  we  will  have  no  Pooly',  or  Parrot  by; 

Nor  shall  our  cups  make  any  guilty  men: 

But  at  our  parting,  we  will  be,  as  when 

"We  innocently  met.     No  simple  word, 

That  shall  be  utter'd  at  our  mirthful  board, 

Shall  make  us  sad  next  morning ;  or  affright 

The  liberty,  that  we'll  enjoy  to-night. 

Of  Prasinus  and  Venetus,  Dry  den,  in  his  Essay  on  Satire,  writes, 
after  observing  that  Horace,  Juvenal,  and  Persius  have  each  their  par- 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  173 

tisans  and  favourers,  "It  is  a  folly  of  the  same  kind  with  that  of  the 
Romans  themselves  in  the  games  of  the  Circus.  The  spectators  were 
divided  in  their  factions  between  the  Yeneti  and  the  Prasini;  some 

were  for  the  charioteer  in  blue,  and  some  for  him  in  green I  am 

now  myself  on  the  brink  of  the  same  precipice."  It  would  seem  that 
Prasinus  and  Yenetus  were  poetical  personifications  of  factions  in 
the  Circus.  In  the  fifth  volume  of  Gibbon,  in  which  the  curious  his- 
tory of  the  factions  of  the  Circus  is  lucidly  detailed,  it  is  stated  that 
the  four  colours  of  the  charioteers, — white,  red,  green,  and  blue, — 
represented  the  four  seasons,  according  to  some  writers,  and  that 
Venetus  was  explained  by  the  term  cceruleus,  which  is  properly  the 
sky  reflected  in  the  sea.  The  colour  of  the  Frasini,  whose  faction 
was  espoused  by  the  emperor,  was  green. 

Ben  Jonson's  Leges  Convivales,  or  rules  engraven  on  marble  fixed 

over  the  chimney-piece  in  his  club-room,  called  the  Apollo,  at  the 

Old  Devil  Tavern  (now  Child's  banking-house),  contain  the  following: 

Rule  xvii.  Joci  sine  felle  sunto,  which  is  rendered  by  Ben  Jonson, 

"Let  raillery  be  without  malice  or  heat." 

Rule  xxiii.   Neminem  rewm  pocula  faciunto,  which  he  thus  trans- 
lates : 

Whoever  shall  publish  what's  said  or  what's  done, 
Be  he  banished  for  ever  our  assembly  divine; 
Let  the  freedom  we  take  be  perverted  by  none, 
To  make  any  guilty  by  drinking  good  wine. 

Rule  xviii.  Insipida  poemata  nulla  recitantur,  which  he  translates : 

"Dull  poems  to  read  let  none  privilege  take." 


CXXII. 

SUPPER  OF  PERFUME. 

I  admit,  Fabullus,  that  you  gave  good  ointment  to  your 
guests  yesterday;  but  there  was  a  lack  of  carving.  It  is  a 
ridiculous  thing  to  be  well  perfumed  and  to  starve.  The 
guest  who  does  not  sup,  but  is  anointed,  appears  to  me  to 
be  treated  like  a  corpse. — Lib.  m.  Ep.  xn. 


174  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

This  epigram  is  cited  by  antiquarians  as  showing  a  practice  among 
the  Romans  of  anointing  their  dead.  Catullus  has  an  invitation  to 
another  of  the  Fabulli,  in  which  he  promises  rare  essences.  George 
Lamb,  in  his  poetical  translation  of  Catullus,  adopts  the  nasal 
part  of  Dr  Hodgson's  version  of  this  bill  of  fare,  viz. : 

Thou'lt  pray  the  Gods,  may  touch  and  taste 
Be  quite  in  smell  alone  effaced, 
And  I  become  all  nose ! 

George  Lamb  observes,  in  a  note,  that  "  to  put  off  their  guests 
with  perfume  instead  of  food,  seems  to  have  been  a  practice  usual 
with  the  Fabulli"     Thus,  he  writes,  Martial  addresses  one : 

Faith!    your  essence  was  excelling; 

But  you  gave  us  nought  to  eat : 
Nothing  tasting,  sweetly  smelling, 

Is,  Fabullus,  scarce  a  treat. 

Let  me  see  a  fowl  unjointed, 

When  your  table  next  is  spread; 
Who  not  feeds,  but  is  anointed, 

Lives  like  nothing  but  the  dead. 

It  may  be  observed  that  Martial  is  very  spiteful  against  the  givers 
of  bad  suppers.  He  complains  of  one  host,  that  he  served  golden 
ornaments  on  the  table  instead  of  meat;  of  another,  that  he  placed 
before  his  guests  nothing  but  a  boar,  and  that  so  small  an  one  that 
it  might  have  been  killed  by  a  pigmy ;  he  desires  that  this  host  should 
never  more  place  a  boar  before  him,  but  should  be  placed  himself 
before  a  boar  in  the  arena;  another  is  compared  by  him  to  an  imi- 
tator of  Mithridates,  who  often  drank  poison,  in  order  to  avoid  being 
poisoned ;  so  this  host  always  supped  very  badly  with  a  view  to  escape 
dying  of  hunger. 


CXXIII. 
WALKING   SUPPERS. 


Annius  has  nearly  two  hundred  tables,  and  a  suite  of 
servants  for  each  table.    The  platters  run  across  each  other, 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  175 

the  dishes  are  all  on  the  wing  {volant).  Ye  sumptuous 
folk,  keep  this  kind  of  entertainment  for  yourselves ;  my 
taste    is    disgusted   with    a    supper   that   walks. — Lib.  vn. 

Ep.  XL VII. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  Pope  may  have  availed  himself  of  this 
epigram  in  his  description  of  a  flying  dinner  at  Timon's  Villa  (Canons), 
in  his  Essay  on  the  Use  of  Riches : 

But,  hark!    the  chiming  clocks  to  dinner  call, 
A  hundred  footsteps  scrape  the  marbled  hall. 
Is  this  a  dinner,  this  a  genial  room? 
No,  'tis  a  temple,  and  a  hecatomb. 
So  quick  retires  each  flying  course,  you'd  swear 
Sancho's  dread  Doctor,  and  his  wand,  were  there, 
In  plenty  starving,  tantalized  in  state, 
And  complaisantly  help'd  to  all  I  hate. 


CXXIV. 

MIXING  WINES. 


Why,  0  Tucca !  do  you  take  pleasure  in  mixing  with  old 
Falernian  wine  must  that  is  stored  in  Vatican  casks?  What 
great  good  have  your  worst  wines  done?  What  great  harm 
has  been  done  by  your  best  wines?  What  you  inflict  on  your 
guests  is  of  little  consequence ;  but  it  is  a  crime  to  assassinate 
Falernian  wine,  and  to  give  cruel  poison  to  the  juice  of  the 
Campanian  grape.  It  is  very  probable  that  your  guests  all 
deserve  to  be  put  to  death ;  but  so  precious  a  flagon  of  Faler- 
nian wine  did  not  deserve  to  die. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xix. 

The  last  line  of  the  above  epigram  is  used  by  Dr  Delany  as  part 
of  an  inscription  on  a  buried  bottle  of  wine,  the  disinterring  of  which 
is  commemorated  in  one  of  Swift's  Birth-day  odes  to  Stella: 


176  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Amphora  quae  moestum  linquis,  lsetumque  revises 

Arentem  dominum,  sit  tibi  terra  levis! 
Tu  quoque  depositum  serves,  neve  opprime,  marmor ! 

"Amphora  non  meruit  tarn  pretiosa  mori" 

"  0  Bottle  of  Wine !  that  lea  vest  thy  master  sad,  on  account  of 
parting  with  you,  but  wilt  gladden  his  heart  when  in  thirst  he  meets 
you  again,  may  the  earth  lie  lightly  on  thee !  And  thou,  marble,  that 
coverest  this  deposit,  afford  it  protection,  without  crushing  it!  So 
precious  a  bottle  does  not  deserve  to  die" 

The  motto  of  the  131st  Number  of  the  Tatler  is  taken  from  the 
above  epigram: 

Scelus  est  jugulare  Falernum 
Et  dare  Campano  toxica  sseva  mero. 

The  Paper  relates  to  the  practice  of  manufacturing  foreign  wines 
from  English  ingredients,  in  the  year  1710.  Becker  calls  the  above 
lines  of  Martial  an  excellent  epigram,  and,  on  the  strength  of  it, 
mixes,  for  his  Gallus,  at  an  inn,  some  Vatican  wine  with  old  Ealer- 
nian.  Martial  compares  the  drinking  of  Vatican  wine  out  of  a 
patera  adorned  with  a  serpent  by  Myron,  to  drinking  the  serpent's 
poison. 


cxxv. 

DRINKING   NAMES. 


N^evia's  health  must  be  drunk  in  a  cup  charged  with  six 
ladles  (cyathis),  Justina  with  seven,  Lycas  with  five,  Lyde 
with  four,  Ida  with  three.  Let  every  mistress  be  numbered 
in  potations  of  Falernian  wine.  But  as  none  of  them  answer 
to  their  names,  do  thou  visit  me,  0  Somnus! — Lib.  i.  Ep. 

LXXII. 

In  the  30th  Number  of  the  Spectator,  by  Steele,  there  is  a  letter 
giving  an  account  of  an  Amorous  Club,  at  Oxford.  It  is  stated  that 
the  members,  in  their  cups,  had  recourse  to  the  rules  of  love  among 
the  ancients: 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  177 

Nsevia  sex  cyathis,  septem  Justina  bibatur, 
Six  cups  to  Nsevia,  to  Justina  seven. 

The  writer  adds  "  This  method  of  a  glass  to  every  letter  of  a  name 
occasioned,  the  other  night,  a  dispute  of  some  warmth.  A  young 
student,  who  is  in  love  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Dimple,  was  so  unrea- 
sonable as  to  begin  her  health  under  the  name  of  Elizabeth;  which 
so  exasperated  the  club,  that,  by  common  consent,  we  retrenched  it 
to  Betty." 

Dr  Nash,  in  his  edition  of  Hudibras,  gives  the  following  para- 
phrase of  Martial's  epigram : 

For  every  letter  drink  a  glass, 

That  spells  the  name  you  fancy, 
Take  four,  if  Suky  be  your  lass, 
And  five,  if  it  be  Nancy. 

Hudibras,  when  making  love  to  the  widow,  says  to  her : 

I'll  carve  your  name  on  barks  of  trees, 
With  true  love-knots  and  flourishes, 
Drink  every  letter  on't  in  stum, 
And  make  it  brisk  Champagne  become. 

Dr  Malkin,  in  his  Classical  Disquisitions,  when  adverting  to  the 
above  epigram  of  Martial,  observes  that  the  Delphin  editor  interprets 
the  invocation  to  Somnus,  as  that  the  Romans,  "  in  order  to  provoke 
sleep,  used  to  toss  off  the  last  cup  to  Mercury,  as  the  God  presiding 
over  that  blessing.  But  the  meaning  of  the  poet  seems  to  be,  that 
having  no  mistress,  he  will  regulate  his  drinking  to  five  cups,  the 
number  of  letters  in  the  word  somne.  By  this  he  proposes  to  declare 
his  moderation,  the  number  being  exactly  a  mean  between  the  tallest 
and  shortest  lady  toasted  by  the  rest  of  the  company."  Dr  Malkin 
mentions  a  modern  humorist,  who,  having  no  lady  to  toast,  declared 
that,  like  Martial,  he  would  drink  to  somnus,  but  in  the  nominative 
case,  and,  in  accordance,  filled  six  successive  bumpers.  Sir  E.  Lytton 
makes  his  dinner-party  at  Pompeii  conclude  with  a  parting  cup  to 
Mercury. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Discourse  on  the  House  of  Feasting,  observes, 
that  the  Romans  thought  that  there  was  no  life  after  this;  or  it' 
there  were,  it  was  without  pleasure;  in  the  shades  below  theic  was 
"  no  numbering  of  healths  by  the  numeral  letters  of  Philenium'a  name, 

MART.  N 


178  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

no  fat  mullets,  oysters  of  Lucrinus,  tender  lard  of  Apulian  swine, 
condited  bellies  of  the  scarus.  They  placed  themselves  in  the  order 
of  beasts  and  birds,  and  esteemed  their  bodies  nothing  but  the  recep- 
tacles of  flesh  and  wine,  larders,  and  pantries ;  and  their  soul,  a  fine 
instrument  of  pleasure  and  brisk  perception  of  relishes  and  gusts, 
reflexions  and  reduplications  of  delight." 

Becker,  in  his  Gallus,  observes,  that  we  derive  almost  our  only 
information  on  the  ancient  custom  of  drinking  by  letters,  from 
Martial,  referring  to  several  of  his  epigrams  on  the  subject,  and 
explaining  that  cyathus  does  not  mean  a  cup  or  glass,  but  a 
measured  ladle  for  filling  them.  He  illustrates  the  custom  by  the 
following  scene :  " '  Bring  larger  goblets,  Uarinos,  that  we  may 
drink  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Greeks.'  Larger  crystal  glasses 
were  placed  before  him.  l  Pour  out  for  me  six  cyathi,'  cried  he. 
1  This  cup  I  drink  to  you,  Gallus.  Hail  to  you ! '  Gallus  replied  to 
the  greeting,  and  then  desired  the  cyathus  to  be  emptied  seven  times 
into  his  goblet.  l  Let  us  not  forget  the  absent,'  said  he.  '  Lycoris, 
this  goblet  I  dedicate  to  you.'  '  Well  done,'  said  Bassus,  as  his  cup 
was  being  filled.  '  Now  my  turn  has  come.  Eight  letters  form  the 
name  of  my  love.  Cytheris!'  said  he,  as  he  drained  the  glass.  Thus 
the  toast  passed  from  mouth  to .  mouth,  and  finally  came  to  the  turn 
of  the  Perusians.  '  I  have  no  love,'  said  the  one  on  the  middle  seat, 
'  but  I  will  give  you  a  better  name,  to  which  let  each  one  empty  his 
glass;  Caesar  Octavianus!  hail  to  him.'  'Hail  to  him,'  responded 
the  other  Perusian.  'Six  cyathi  to  each,  or  ten1?  What,  Gallus  and 
Calpurnius!  does  not  the  name  sound  pleasantly  to  you,  that  you 
refuse  the  goblet  V  eI  have  no  reason  for  drinking  to  his  welfare,' 
rejoined  Gallus,  scarcely  suppressing  his  emotion." 

Voltaire,  in  his  Questions  sur  rUncyclopedie,  Article,  Boire  a  la 
Sante,  observes  of  the  Romans,  "  Dans  la  joie  d'un  festin  on  bouvait 
pour  celebrer  sa  maitresse,  et  non  pas  pour  qu'elle  eut  une  bonne 
sante.     Voyez  dans  Martial : 

Nsevia  sex  cyathis,  septem  Justina  bibatur. 
Six  coups  pour  Nsevia,  sept  au  moins  pour  Justine." 

Voltaire  thinks  the  drinking  of  healths  a  barbarous  custom,  inasmuch 
as  a  person  might  empty  four  bottles  to  a  person's  health,  without 
doing  him  any  good.  He  quotes  an  author,  who  states  that  it  is  not 
decorous  in  Germany  to  drink  to  the  health  of  a  superior  in  his 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  179 

presence,  upon  which  he  observes,  "II  y  a  nioins  loin  d'un  homme 
a  un  homrae  a  Londres  qua  Vienna"  Voltaire's  notions  of  drinking 
to  the  honour  of  ladies  in  England  may  cause  a  smile :  "  Les  Anglais 
qui  se  sont  piques  de  renouveller  plusieurs  coutumes  de  l'antiquite, 
boivent  a  l'honneur  des  dames;  c'est  ce  qu'ils  appellent  foster;  et 
c'est  parmi  eux  un  grand  sujet  de  dispute,  si  une  femme  est  testable 
ou  non,  si  elle  est  digne  qu'on  la  iosteP 


CXXVI. 

SUPPERS  NIGH  TOMBS. 

(I.) 

I  am  called  Mica  (lit.  a  crumb);  you  behold  what  I  am; 
a  small  supper-parlour.  From  my  window  you  behold  the 
mausoleum  of  Augustus.  Shake  up  the  cushions  for  a  ban- 
quet (lit.  break  the  beds) ;  look  for  the  wine,  take  a  garland 
of  roses,  anoint  yourself  with  nard.  God  Himself  (Domitian, 
who  designed  the  Mica)  bids  you  to  remember  death.— Lib.  n. 
Ep.  LIX. 

(II.) 

Fill  the  double-cyathi  cups  with  Falernian,  pour  summer- 
snow  over  the  wine,  let  our  hair  be  wet  with  unstinted  per- 
fume, and  our  temples  be  loaded  with  chaplets  of  roses.  The 
adjacent  Mausolea  teach  us  how  to  live,  for  they  show  that 
even  gods  can  die. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  lxv. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Considerations  preparatory  to 
Death,  says,  apparently  in  allusion  to  the  above  epigrams,  "Break 
the  beds,  drink  your  wine,  crown  your  heads  with  roses,  and  besmear 
your  curled  locks  with  nard;  for  God  bids  you  to  remember  death. 
So  the  epigrammatist  speaks  the  sense  of  their  drunken  principles. 
At  all  their  solemn  feasts  they  would  talk  of  death,  to  give  a  zest  to 
their  present  drinking,  as  knowing  the  drink  that  would  be  poured 

N  2 


180  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

on  their  graves  would  be  without  relish ;"  and  again,  "  they  threw 
some  ashes  into  their  chalices."  At  a  banquet  described  by  Petronius 
there  was  taken  round  the  tables  a  skeleton  made  of  silver. 


CXXVII. 

SUPPER-HUNTING  AT  PORTICOS  AND  BATHS. 

Selius  leaves  nothing  untried,  nothing  undared  as  often 
as  he  perceives  a  prospect  of  being  compelled  to  sup  at  home. 
He  runs  to  the  portico  of  Europa,  and,  on  his  way  through  the 
Campus  Martius,  tries  to  get  a  supper  out  of  Paulinus,  who  is 
taking  his  exercise  there,  by  reiterated  comparisons  of  his  feet 
to  those  of  the  swift-fooled  Achilles.  Europa  failing  him,  he 
flies  to  the  Bepta  (inclosures  originally  for  voting,  latterly  filled 
with  shops),  in  which  quarter  he  looks  in  at  the  portico  of  the 
Argonauts,  and  affects  to  admire  the  pictures  hung  up  there 
of  Chiron  and  Jason.  Selius's  object  not  being  yet  attained, 
he  joins  a  crowd  thronging  to  the  temples  of  the  Egyptian  di- 
vinities, and  takes  his  seat  next  yours,  0  Heifer !  who  lookest 
so  sad  for  the  loss  of  Osiris.  He  quits  this  place  also  without 
result,  and  resorts  to  the  portico  of  a  'Hundred  Columns;' 
next  he  goes  to  the  portico  of  Pompey  and  its  double  grove 
(containing  four  rows  of  columns,  and  between  each  pair  a 
grove).  He  then  takes  a  range  of  the  baths,  not  despising 
those  of  Fortunatus  or  Faustus,  nor  even  the  darkness  visible 
of  those  of  Gryllus,  nor  the  ^Eolian  bleakness  of  those  of 
Lupus.  When  he  has  washed  himself  over  and  over  again 
without  finding  the  gods  propitious,  he  returns  to  the  place 
from  which  he  set  out,  viz.  the  box- wood  plantations  of  the 
portico  of  Europa,  now  grown  warm  with  the  afternoon  sun, 
in  hopes  that  he  may  entrap  some  friend  who  has  pro- 
tracted his  walk  till  a  late  hour.    A  truce  to  supper-hunting ; 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  181 

I  implore  you,  0  Bull,  thou  lascivious  carrier !  (the  arch-god 
Jupiter,  who,  in  the  form  of  a  bull,  carried  away  Europa)  both 
in  the  name  of  thyself  and  of  thy  damsel  (Europa,  in  whose 
portico  Selius  is  supposed  to  be  loitering),  do  you  invite 
Selius  to  supper !  (for  which  purpose  bull  Jupiter  would  have 
first  to  kill  him.) — Lib.  n.  Ep.  xiv. 

Selius's  wanderings  are  applied,  in  Canina's  Treatise  on  the 
Vicissitudes  of  the  Eternal  City,  for  the  purpose  of  identifying  the 
ancient  topography  of  Borne.  The  above  epigram,  is  particularly 
noticed  as  assisting  to  fix  the  relative  localities  of  the  Septa,  the 
Porticos  of  Europa,  of  the  Hundred  Columns,  and  of  Pompey.  Nu- 
merous cornices  and  broken  columns  have  been  found  on  the  site 
assigned  in  the  above  epigram  to  Pompey's  Portico.  The  groves 
spoken  of  above  in  the  Portico  of  Europa  are  supposed  to  have  given 
a  name  to  the  Church,  on  the  same  site,  called  S.  Salvatore  in  lauro  ; 
in  the  garden  of  which  church  four  draped  figures  have  been  found, 
that  are  conjectured  to  have  belonged  to  the  decoration  of  the  Portico 
of  Europa.  The  places  visited  by  Selius  are  situated  in  the  English 
quarter  of  Pome ;  and  it  appears  from  various  concurrent  authorities 
that  they  were  in  or  adjoining  the  Campus  Martius. 

The  worship  of  Isis  by  Romans  is  a  prominent  circumstance  in 
Sir  E.  Lytton's  Last  Days  of  Pompeii. 


CXXVIII. 
SUPPER-HUNTING  BY  NEWS-TELLING. 

Philomusus  !  you  are  in  the  habit  of  earning  suppers  by 
the  art  of  relating  numerous  fictions  of  your  own  invention,  as 
if  they  were  true.  You  know  what  schemes  king  Pacorus  is 
contriving  in  his  Arsacian  palace :  you  enumerate  the  precise 
forces  of  the  Rhenish  and  Sarmatian  armies;  you  relate  the 
message  of  the  Dacian  king  to  the  Catti  just  as  if  you  had 
yourself  written  his  dispatch :  you  see  each  victorious  laurel 


182  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

before  it  arrives.  You  know  how  often  Syene  with  its  dark 
inhabitants  is  watered  by  Egyptian  showers;  you  know  how 
many  ships  set  sail  from  the  coast  of  Africa.  You  know  for 
whose  head  the  Julian  laurels  are  growing ;  to  whom  Jupiter 
(at  his  games  instituted  by  Domitian)  destines  his  own  gar- 
lands. Lay  aside,  0  Philomusus!  arts  such  as  these;  you 
shall  sup  with  me  to-day ;  but  on  this  express  condition,  that 
you  relate  no  news.—  Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xxxvi. 

Martial's  epigram  is  closely  imitated  by  Ben  Jonson,  in  one  to 
Captain  Hungry: 

Do  what  you  come  for,  captain,  with  your  news; 

That's  sit  and  eat :  do  not  my  ears  abuse. 

Tell  the  gross  Dutch  those  grosser  tales  of  yours, 

How  great  you  were  with  their  two  emperours; 

And  yet  are  with  their  princes:  fill  them  full 

Of  your  Moravian  horse,  Venetian  bull. 

Tell  them,  what  parts  you've  ta'en,  whence  run  away, 

What  states  you've  gull'd,  and  which  yet  keeps  you'  in  pay. 

Give  them  your  services,  and  embassies 

In  Ireland,  Holland,  Sweden;  pompous  lies! 

In  Hungary  and  Poland,  Turkey  too; 

What  at  Ligorne,  Pome,  Plorence  you  did  do: 

And,  in  some  year,  all  these  together  heap'd, 

For  which  there  must  more  sea  and  land  be  leap'd, 

If  but  to  be  believed  you  have  the  hap, 

Than  can  a  flea  at  twice  skip  in  the  map. 
#  #_  *  *  *  * 

Keep  your  names 
Of  Hannow,  Shieter-huissen,  Popenheim, 
Hans-spiegle,  Potteinberg,  and  Boutersheim, 
For  your  next  meal;  this  you  are  sure  of.     Why 
Will  you  part  with  them  here  unthriftily; 
Nay,  now  you  puff,  tusk,  and  draw  up  your  chin, 
Twirl  the  poor  chain  you  run  a-feasting  in. — 
Come,  be  not  angry,  you  are  Hungry  ;  eat : 
Do  what  you  come  for,  captain;  there's  your  meat. 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  183 

The  PauVs-men,  who,  for  want  of  an  invitation  to  dinner,  were 
sometimes  constrained  to  dine  with  Duke  Humfrey  (whose  monument 
was  in  an  aisle  of  the  cathedral),  afforded  modern  instances  of  the 
suffering  feelingly  expressed  by  Martial,  in  another  epigram,  of  triste 
domiccenium. 


CXXIX. 

SUPPER-HUNTING  BY  CRYING  SOPHOS. 

That  the  gowned  multitude,  whilst  you  are  speaking,  ex- 
claim so  loudly  sophos!  (wisely!  hear,  hear!)  is  not  elicited 
by  yourself,  but  by  your  eloquent  supper. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xlviii. 

The  motto  of  the  189th  number  of  the  Rambler  is, 

Quod  tarn  grande  sophos  clamat  tibi  turba  togata, 
Non  tu,  Pomponi,  coena  diserta  tua  est; 
of  which  the  following  version  is  given : 

Resounding  plaudits  through  the  crowd  have  rung; 
Thy  treat  is  eloquent,  and  not  thy  tongue. 

The  Paper  is  on  the  subject  of  "  false  claims  to  recommendation." 
Dr  Johnson  writes,  "  Almost  every  man  wastes  part  of  his  life  in 
attempts  to  display  qualities  which  he  does  not  possess,  and  to  gain 
applause  which  he  cannot  keep;  so  that  scarcely  can  two  persons 
casually  meet,  but  one  is  offended  or  diverted  by  the  ostentation  of 
the  other." 

The  above  epigram  illustrates  a  letter  of  Pliny,  as  translated  by 
Melmoth :  "  The  audience  that  follow  them  are  fit  attendance  for  such 
orators,  a  low  sort  of  hired  mercenaries  assembling  themselves  in  the 
middle  of  a  Court  of  Justice,  where  the  dole  is  dealt  round  to  them 
as  openly  as  if  they  were  in  a  dining-room;  and  at  this  noble  price 
they  run  from  court  to  court.  We  stigmatize  this  sort  of  people  with 
the  opprobrious  title  of  table-flatterers;  yet  the  meanness  alluded  to 
increases  every  day :  it  was  but  yesterday  two  of  my  servants,  strip- 
lings, were  hired  for  this  goodly  office  at  the  price  of  three  denarii. 
Upon  these  honourable  terms  we  fill  our  benches  and  gather  a  circle; 


184  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

and  thus  it  is  those  unmerciful  shouts  are  raised,  when  a  man  who 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  ring  gives  the  word ;  for,  you  must  know, 
those  honest  fellows  who  understand  nothing  of  what  is  said,  or  if 
they  did,  could  not  hear  it,  would  be  at  a  loss,  without  a  signal,  how 
to  time  their  applause." 

Martial  applies  to  the  exclamation  sophos  the  following  epithets, 
tergeminum,  inane,  insanum;  the  mobs  of  Rome,  as,  according  to 
Persius,  its  parrots,  had  learnt  Greek. 


cxxx. 

LEGACY  HUNTING. 


(I.) 
Silanus  has  lost  his  only  son;  do  you,  Oppianus,  omit  to 
send  presents?     0  cruel  calamity!  0  malevolent  Parcse!  (to 
leave  Silanus  without  your  presents).    What  vulture  will  de- 
vour this  carcase?— Lib.  vi.  Ep.  lxii. 

(ii.) 

You  give  nothing  to  me  in  your  lifetime ;  you  say  that  you 
will  bequeath  me  something :  if  you  have  a  grain  of  sense  you 
must  perceive,  Maro,  what  I  long  for. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  lxviii. 

(in.) 
You  are  childless  and  rich,  and  born  when  Brutus  was 
consul,  and  have  you  a  belief  in  true  friendships?  There  are 
indeed  such  things  as  true  friendships,  but  they  must  be  those 
you  may  have  formed  when  you  were  young  and  poor :  a  new 
friend  is  one  who  loves  you  for  your  death. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xlv. 

The  motto  of  the  197th  number  of  the  Rambler  is  taken  from  the 
first  of  the  above  epigrams: 

Cujus  vulturis  hoc  erit  cadaver? 
Sav  to  what  vulture's  share  this  carcase  falls? 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  185 

The  motto  of  the  198th  number  of  the  Rambler  is  the  distich 
which  forms  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams,  which  is  thus  trans- 
lated : 

You  told  me,   Maro,   whilst  you  live, 

You'd  not  a  single  penny  give, 
But  that  whene'er  you  chance  to  die, 
You'd  leave  a  handsome  legacy: 
You  must  be  mad  beyond  redress, 
If  my  next  wish  you  cannot  guess. 

The  motto  of  the  162nd  number  of  the  Rambler  consists  of  the 
four  lines  which  form  the  third  of  the  above  epigrams,  thus  rendered: 

What!  old,  and  rich,  and  childless  too, 
And  yet  believe  your  friends  are  true? 
Truth  might,  perhaps,  to  those  belong, 
To  those  who  lov'd  you  poor  and  young; 
But,  trust  me,  for  the  age  you  have, 
They'll  love  you  dearly — in  your  grave. 

The  first  two  numbers  of  the  Rambler  above  adverted  to,  are  on 
the  subject  of  modern  legacy-hunting,  and  each  consists  of  letters 
signed  Captator.  The  writer  observes  that  "  the  term  legacy  hunters, 
however  degraded  by  an  ill-compounded  appellation  in  our  barbarous 
language,  was  known  in  ancient  Rome  by  the  sonorous  titles  of  Cap- 
tator and  Ifceredipeta"  In  the  third  number  of  the  Rambler  above 
adverted  to,  is  a  lively  picture  of  a  character  named  Thrasybulus,  and 
of  his  agent  Yafer.  Thrasybulus,  when  he  grew  old,  had  "banquetted 
on  flattery,  till  he  could  no  longer  bear  the  harshness  of  remonstrance, 
nor  the  insipidity  of  truth."  Yafer  "  triumphed  over  all  the  efforts 
of  Thrasybulus's  family,  and,  continuing  to  confirm  himself  in  au- 
thority, at  the  death  of  his  master  purchased  his  estate,  and  bade 
defiance  to  inquiry  and  justice." 


186  MARTIAL    AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH. 

CXXXI. 

SOCIAL  GAMES. 

If  your  game  be  the  warfare  of  the  insidious  robbers,  you 
have  here  your  soldier,  and  your  enemy,  made  out  of  gems. — 
Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  xx. 

The  above  epigram  was  probably  an  accompaniment  to  a  saturna- 
lian  present  of  a  set  of  table-men  for  the  game  of  ludus  latrunculorum 
(or,  little  robbers).  Becker,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Gallus,  when 
treating  of  the  social  games  of  Rome,  mentions  two  games  which  were 
at  all  seasons  lawful  at  Rome,  as  not  depending  on  chance,  viz.  the 
ludus  latrunculorum,  like  our  chess,  or  rather  a  besieging  game;  and 
the  ludus  duodecim  scriptorum,  like  backgammon.  In  illustration  of 
the  ludus  latrunculorum,  Becker  cites  the  above  epigram  of  Martial, 
and  others  respecting  pieces  made  of  glass,  the  different  colours  of  the 
pieces,  the  feat  of  one  piece  being  captured  between  two  of  a  different 
colour,  and  the  names  of  two  persons  immortalized  by  Martial  for 
their  fame  in  playing  the  game. 

In  a  note  appended  to  Garth's  Ovid  (ed.  1735),  with  reference  to 
the  lines  on  the  Art  of  Love, 

When  she's  at  cards,  or  rattling  dice  she  throws, 
Connive  at  cheats,  and  generously  lose, 
five  epigrams  from  Martial,  illustrative  of  the  subject,  are  quoted; 
in  Becker's  Excursus,  six.    Martial's  expression  nequiore  talo  has  been 
adverted  to  {supra,  Ep.  liv.),  as  to  which,  Sir  E.  Lytton  introduces 
cogged  dice  at  Pompeii,  where  some  were,  in  fact,  discovered. 


CXXXII. 

MULTIPLIED  MARRIAGES. 


In  three  hundred  days,  more  or  less,  from  the  period 
when  the  Julian  law  was  re-enacted,  and  modesty  was  bid 
to  re-enter  Roman  houses,  Thelesina  was  married  to  a  tenth 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  187 

husband.  A  woman  who  is  so  often  married  is  not  virtually 
married ;  she  falls  within  the  purview,  if  not  within  the  letter, 
of  the  law.  I  am  less  disgusted  with  a  more  simple  prostitute. 
— Lib.  vi.  Ep.  vii. 

The  point  of  the  epigram  seems  to  be,  that  there  was  a  mode  of 
evading  the  Julian  law  against  adultery,  by  means  of  the  adulterous 
wife  marrying  again  before  any  proceeding  under  the  law  was  insti- 
tuted against  her.  The  Julian  law,  in  fact,  contained  a  proviso  that 
if  a  woman  left  her  husband  and  married  previously  to  any  pro- 
ceeding instituted  against  her,  she  could  not  be  prosecuted  before  the 
adulterer  had  first  been  convicted.  Some  commentators  think  that 
the  epigram  indicates  the  prevalence  of  divorces;  that  women  mar- 
ried again  in  order  to  screen  the  disgrace  of  being  divorced.  The 
epigram  is  cited  with  approbation  in  Murphy's  Notes  to  his  Trans- 
lation of  Tacitus,  where  it  is  introduced  as  illustrative  of  that  part  of 
the  Be  Moribus  Germanorum  in  which  Tacitus  states  that  German 
wives  never  married  a  second  time. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Woman  of  Samaria,  quotes 
from  Martial's  epigram  the  lines, 

Quse  nubit  toties,  non  nubit:  adultera  lege  est. 
Offendor  mcecha  simpliciore  minus; 
on  which  he  observes,  that  "  instead  of  returning  anger  and  passion 
to  her  rudeness,  which  was  commenced  upon  the  interest  of  a  mis- 
taken religion,  Christ  preached  to  her  the  coming  of  the  Messias, 
unlocked  the  secrets  of  her  heart,  let  in  His  grace,  and  made  a  foun- 
tain of  living  water  to  spring  up  in  her  soul  which  might  extinguish 
the  impure  flames  of  lust  which  had  set  her  on  fire,  burning  like  hell, 
ever  since  the  death  of  her  fifth  husband,  she  then  becoming  a  con- 
cubine to  the  sixth." 


CXXXIII. 

WIDOWED  STEP-MOTHERS. 


There  was  a  rumour  that  you  were  not  altogether  the 
son-in-law  of  your  mother-in-law  during  the  time  that  she 


188  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

was  the  wife  of  your  father.  This  could  not  be  proved  in 
your  fathers  lifetime :  but,  now  your  father  is  dead,  and  yet 
your  mother-in-law  continues  to  reside  in  your  family  house. 
Though  Tully  were  called  back  from  the  shades  below,  and 
though  Regulus  himself  were  to  defend  you,  an  acquittal 
would  be  hopeless:  for  a  step-mother  who  does  not  cease  to 
be  one  after  the  death  of  a  father,  was  never  altogether  a 
step-mother. — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  xvi. 

In  this  somewhat  obscure  epigram  Martial  seems  to  regard  it  as 
conclusive  evidence  of  an  illicit  intercourse  between  a  mother-in-law 
and  a  son-in-law,  that  the  former,  on  becoming  a  widow,  continues 
to  reside  under  the  same  roof  with  her  son-in-law.  The  epigram, 
so  understood,  indicates  a  great  squeamishness  resulting  from  extreme 
corruption;  though  in  this  point  of  view  it  has  not,  it  is  believed, 
been  noticed  by  writers  on  Roman  manners :  it  is  here  introduced  in 
consequence  of  the  following  remarkable  use  made  of  it  upon  a  high 
question  of  divinity. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  what  sense  it  is  or  may  be  pardonable?  writes,  "'Impossible'  is 
not  to  be  understood  in  the  natural  sense,  but  in  the  legal  and  moral. 
There  are  degrees  of  impossibility,  and  therefore  they  are  not  all 
absolute  and  supreme.  So,  when  the  law  hath  condemned  a  criminal, 
we  usually  say  of  him  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  escape,  meaning 
that  the  law  is  clearly  against  him : 

Magnus  ab  infernis  revocetur  Tullius  umbris, 

Et  te  defendat  Regulus  ipse  licet ; 
Non  potes  absolvi. 

That  is,  your  cause  is  lost,  you  are  inexcusable;  there  is  no  apology, 
no  pleading  for  you;  as  here,  'there  is  left  no  sacrifice  for  him.'  So 
St  John's  expression,  a  'sin  unto  death'  means,  without  extreme 
difficulty,  and  a  perfect  contradiction  to  that  state  in  which  they  are 
for  the  present  lost." 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  189 

CXXXIV. 

BEGGING   INCEKDIAKY. 

You  bought  your  house,  Tongilianus,  for  two  hundred  thou- 
sand sesterces:  a  calamity  too  frequent  in  this  city  laid  it 
in  ashes.  The  contributions  on  account  of  your  loss,  which 
you  received  from  your  friends,  amounted  to  ten  hundred 
thousand  sesterces.  I  ask,  may  you  not  be  suspected,  0  Tongi- 
lianus, of  having  set  fire  to  your  own  house?— Lib.  in.  Ep.  lii. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies,  when  writing  of  the  tinners  of  Cornwall, 
notices,  "  I  cannot  take  my  leave  of  these  tinners  until  I  have 
observed  a  strange  practice  of  them,  that,  once  in  seven  or  eight  years, 
they  burn  down  (and  that  to  their  great  profit)  their  own  melting- 
houses.  I  remember  a  merry  epigram  in  Martial  of  one  Tongilian, 
who  had  his  house  in  Rome  casually  (reputed)  burnt,  and  gained  ten 
times  as  much  by  his  friends'  contributions  to  his  loss : 

Collatum  est  decies:    rogo,  non  potes  ipse  videri 
Incendisse  tuam,  Tongiliane,  domum  ? 

Gaining  tenfold,  tell  truly,  I  desire, 
Tongilian!    did'st  not  set  thy  house  on  fire? 

But  here  the  tinners  avow  themselves  incendiaries  of  their  own  houses ; 
for  during  the  tin's  melting  in  the  blowing-house,  divers  light  sparkles 
thereof  are,  by  the  forcible  wind  which  the  bellows  sendeth  forth, 
driven  up  to  the  thatched  roof,  on  the  burning  whereof  they  find  so 
much  of  this  light  tin  in  the  ashes,  as  payeth  for  the  new  building, 
with  a  gainful  overplus." 

The  above  epigram  is  illustrative  of  a  passage  in  Juvenal,  which 
is  parodied  in  Johnson's  London,  but  which,  probably,  was  never 
very  applicable  to  our  metropolis: 

See,  while  he  builds,  the  gaudy  vassals  come, 
And  crowd  with  sudden  wealth  the  rising  dome  ; 
The  price  of  boroughs  and  of  souls  restore; 
And  raise  his  treasures  higher  than  before. 
Orgilio  sees  the  golden  pile  aspire, 
And  hopes  from  angry  heaven  another  fire. 


190  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 


cxxxv. 

DANDIES. 

(10 
This  man,  whom  you  see  walking  slowly  with  vague  foot- 
steps, who  cuts  his  way  through  the  middle  of  the  septa 
(where  the  shops  are  attracting  crowds)  in  a  vest  of  the  colour 
of  amethysts;  whom  my  Publius  does  not  surpass  in  the 
beauty  of  his  laeernce  (garment  worn  over  the  toga),  nor 
Codrus  himself,  the  alpha  of  the  wearers  oipcenulm  (cloak  for 
cold  weather) ;  who  is  followed  by  a  crowd  of  the  gowned 
(grex  togatus),  and  of  boys ;  whose  sedan,  with  its  curtains  and 
girths,  are  all  new ; — he  lately  pledged,  at  the  counter  of  the 
pawnbroker  Claudius,  a  ring  for  eight  nummi,  to  buy  himself 
a  supper. — Lib.  II.  Ep.  lvii. 

(ii.) 

Cotilus,  you  are  a  bellus  homo.  The  world  says  this.  I 
hear  it;  but  what  is  a  bellus  homo?  A  bellus  homo  is  one  who 
arranges  his  hair  in  regular  curls ;  who  always  smells  of  bal- 
sams and  cinnamon;  who  sings  softly  Spanish  and  Egyptian 
ditties;  who  moves  about  his  shorn  and  polished  arms  in 
various  attitudes ;  who  wastes  his  whole  day  among  the  seats 
of  the  women ;  who  is  always  whispering  something  in  an  ear ; 
who  is  reading  letters  from  various  quarters,  or  writing  them 
to  as  many ;  who  flies  from  his  neighbour's  dress,  lest  his  own 
should  be  soiled  or  ruffled ;  who  knows  who  loves  whom  (quam 
quis  a/met) ;  who  runs  about  to  all  feasts ;  who  well  knows  the 
pedigree  of  the  winning  horse,  Hirpinus.  "What  are  you 
telling?"  say  you.  This  is  the  definition  of  a  bellus  homo. 
Cotilus,  a  bellus  homo  is  a  man,  or  rather  thing,  engrossed  by 
trifling  occupations  {res  pcetricosa,  otherwise  pertricosa). — 
Lib.  in.  Ep.  lxiii. 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  191 

The  first  of  the  above  epigrams  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  to  have 
been  imitated  by  Bishop  Hall,  in  his  Satires : 

Seest  thou  how  gaily  my  young  master  goes, 

Vaunting  himself  upon  his  rising  toes  1 

'Tis  Euffio :    trow'st  thou  where  he  din'd  to-day  *? 

In  sooth  I  saw  him  sit  with  Duke  Humfray. 

His  linen  collar  labyrinthian  set, 

Whose  thousand  double  turnings  never  met. 

His  sleeves  half  hid  with  elbow  pinionings, 

As  if  he  meant  to  fly  with  linen  wings. 

His  hair,  French-like,  stares  on  his  frighted  head, 

One  lock,  amazon-like  dishevelled  (love-lock  ?)  ; 

As  if  he  meant  to  wear  a  native  cord, 

If  chance  his  fates  should  him  that  bane  afford. 

Meanwhile,  I  wonder  at  so  proud  a  back, 

Whiles  th'  empty  guts  loud  rumblen  for  long  lack. 

The  second  of  the  above  epigrams  supplied  the  subject  for  a  Prize 
at  Cambridge,  viz.  Bellus  homo  Academicus.  The  prize  was  obtained 
by  G-oodall.  It  is  directed  by  the  deed  of  foundation,  that  the  Latin 
epigram  shall  be  "  after  the  model  of  Martial." 

A  Bellus  Homo  is  thus  portrayed  by  Becker,  in  the  second  scene 
of  his  Gallus :  "  Lentulus,  young,  vain,  and  wealthy,  was  the  exact 
prototype  of  those  well-dressed,  self-sufficient,  shallow  young  men  of 
our  own  day,  so  graphically  described  by  a  modern  Trench  author,  as 
being  belles  bourses  d'etalage :  qity  a-t-il  au  fond  ?  du  ride.  No  one 
dressed  with  more  care,  or  arranged  his  hair  in  more  elegant  locks, 
or  diffused  around  him  such  a  scent  of  cassia  and  cinnamon,  nard  and 
balsam.  No  one  was  better  acquainted  with  the  latest  news  of  the 
city:  who  were  betrothed  yesterday,  who  was  Caius'  newest  mistress, 
why  Titus  had  procured  a  divorce,  on  whom  Nesera  had  closed  her 
doors.  The  whole  business  of  his  day  consisted  in  philandering  about 
the  toilets  of  the  ladies,  or  strolling  through  the  colonnades  of  Pom- 
peius,  or  the  almost  completed  Septa,  humming  Alexandrian  or  Gadi- 
tanian  songs,  or,  at  most,  in  reading  or  writing  a  love  epistle :  in 
short,  he  was  a  complete  specimen  of  what  the  Romans  contemp- 
tuously called  bellus  homo." 


192  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CXXXVI. 

THE   KISSING  NUISANCE. 

(10 
It  is  impossible  to  escape  the  kissers;  they  press,  they 

detain,  they  pursue,  they  meet They  kiss  people  whether 

they  are  cold  or  hot,  and  even  a  bridegroom  reserving  his 
nuptial  kiss.  It  will  be  of  no  avail,  though  you  cover  your 
head  with  a  hood ;  nor  will  you  be  safe  in  a  lectica  with 
its  skins  and  its  curtain,  or  in  a  sella  that  is  usually  closed : 
the  kisser  will  enter  through  every  chink:  not  the  Consular 
office,  nor  that  of  Tribune,  nor  the  threatening  fasces,  nor 
the  rod  of  the  noisy  lictor  will  drive  him  away ;  though  you 
are  sitting  in  the  elevated  tribunal,  and  are  promulgating 
the  law  from  a  curule  chair,  the    kisser    will   ascend    as 

high  as  you The  only  remedy  for  this  nuisance  is  to 

choose  a  friend  not  addicted  to  kissing. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xcix. 

(ii.) 

It  is  winter,  and  horrid  December  is  stiffened,  yet  you 
have  the  audacity  to  detain  every  one  whom  you  meet  with 

a  snowy  kiss,  and  so  to  kiss  the  whole  of  Rome If  you 

have  any  sense  of  propriety,  or  any  shame,  put  off  your 
winter-kisses  till  the  month  of  April. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xciv. 

Becker  adverts  to  both  of  the  above  epigrams  in  the  notes  to  a 
passage  in  which  he  is  conducting  his  Gallus  through  the  Roman 
street  called  Subura :  "  In  consequence  of  so  many  obstructions  which 
occurred  every  moment,  it  was  certainly  more  convenient  to  allow 
yourself  to  be  carried  through  the  throng  reclining  on  a  lectica, 
although  it  often  required  very  safe  bearers,  and,  now  and  then,  the 
sturdy  elbows  of  the  prce-ambulo,  to  get  well  through :  by  this  mode 
you  had  also  the  advantage  of  not  being  incessantly  seized  by  the 
hand,  addressed,  or  even  kissed,  a  custom  which,  of  late,  had  begun  to 
prevail." 


IV,]  ROMAN    LIFE.  193 

CXXXVII. 

ROMAN   BARBERS. 

(I.) 
In  this  tomb  lies  Pantagathus,  the  care  and  the  grief  of 
his  master,  snatched  from  him,  alas  !  in  early  youth ;  he  was 
skilled  in  cutting  stray  hairs  with  the  steel  which  gently 
touched  them,  and  in  giving  a  polish  to  bristly  cheeks. 
Whence,  0  earth!  be  placid  and  light  to  him;  you  cannot 
be  lighter  than  was  his  artistical  hand. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  lii. 

(ii.) 
Part  of  the  hair  of  your  cheeks  is  cut,  part  shaved,  part 
plucked  out ;  no  one  would  believe  that  this  was  one  head. — 
Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xlvii. 

(iii.) 
What  would  I  do,  if  a  barber,  when  his  drawn  razor 
is  held  over  my  head,  should  ask  me  to  emancipate  him,  or  to 
give  him  money?  I  would  promise;  for,  under  the  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  a  barber  who  asks,  but  a  robber,  and  fear  is 
imperious.  But  when  his  razor  should  be  replaced  in  its 
curved  sheath,  I  would  have  his  legs  and  his  hands  broken. — 
Lib.  xi.  Ep.  lix. 

(IV.) 

During  the  time  that  the  barber  Eutrapelus  is  making  a 
circuit  round  the  face  of  Lupercus,  and  is  shaving  {other- 
wise painting)  both  cheeks,  another  beard  grows  up  {altera 
barba  subit). — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  lxxxii. 

The  Roman  barbers  and  their  mysteries  have  been  collected,  in  a 
great  measure  from  the  above  and  other  epigrams  of  Martial,  by  Dr 
Smith,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Antiquities,  and  by  Becker,  in  the  scene 
of  a  barber's  shop,  in  his  G alius;  Becker  cites  the  first  of  the  above 
epigrams,  as  showing  that  persons  of  wealth  had  their  own  barber 
mart.  o 


194  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

among  the  slave-family,  who,  if  skilful,  was  much  prized:  and,  in 
illustration  of  the  various  modes  of  shearing  Roman  beards,  he  quotes 
the  joke,  in  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams,  of  a  man  who  shaved 
his  beard  three  ways.  Martial  has  several  severe  epigrams  against 
bad  shavers.     In  one  he  concludes : 

"Onus  de  cunctis  animalibus  hircus  habet  cor: 
Barbatus  vivit,  ne  ferat  Antiochum. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Efficient  Causes  of  Human 
Actions,  writes,  "Now,  because  in  contracts  we  intend  some  advan- 
tage to  ourselves,  real  or  imaginary,  and,  in  contracts  effected  by  a 
great  fear,  we  can  design  none  but  the  avoiding  of  a  greater  mischief, 
will  the  law  and  right  reason  wholly  attribute  it  to  fear,  and,  there- 
fore, annul  the  contract?  Martial's  case  is  pertinent  to  this  inquiry:" 
he  then  quotes  the  lines,  in  the  original  Latin,  of  the  third  of  the 
above  epigrams,  observing,  "If  a  barber,  when  a  razor  is  upon  my 
throat,  contracts  with  me  for  twenty  pounds,  if  I  fear  that  he  will 
cut  my  throat  on  being  denied  I  promise  to  him,  as  to  a  thief,  with 
whom  whatsoever  contract  I  make  is  made  in  intolerable  fear,  and 
therefore,  thinks  Martial,  no  law  of  man  doth  verify  it.  But  Martial, 
as  to  this  instance,  was  no  good  casuist ;  for,  if  it  be  inquired  whether 
I  am  obliged,  in  conscience,  to  keep  my  promise  to  a  thief  or  bandit, 
I  answer  that  I  am."  Martial  held  with  Cicero,  but  the  weight  of 
authority  with  modern  Moralists  seems  to  be  in  favour  of  the  Barber. 
See  on  this  subject,  Grotius,  De  Jure  Belli  et  Facis,  Lib.  n.  c.  xi. 
translated  and  edited  by  Dr  Whewell. 

With  regard  to  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams,  Voiture,  who  was 
a  friend  of  Yaugelas,  often  rallied  him  on  the  excessive  pains  he  took 
in  his  translation  of  Quintus  Curtius.  He  told  Yaugelas  that  he 
would  never  finish ;  for  whilst  he  was  polishing  one  part  of  his  book, 
the  French  language  was  changing,  and  that,  therefore,  he  would  be 
obliged  to  alter  all  the  rest ;  and  he  applied  to  him  the  above  epigram. 
"  So,"  he  observed,  "  altera  barba  subit." 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  195 

CXXXVIII. 
FALSE  HAIR. 

You  collect  together  a  few  locks  of  hair  that  remain  on 
your  temples,  and  cover  with  them  the  wide  expanse  of  your 
shining  bald  pate;  but  no  sooner  are  the  locks  commanded 
by  the  wind  than  they  return  to  their  places ;  and,  as  before, 
they  gird,  on  each  side,  your  naked  head ;  just  as  if  Cidas's 
statue  of  the  old  man  were  placed  between  two  youths  having 
luxuriant  hair.  Will  you  candidly  confess  your  senility?  In 
order  that  you  may  appear  what  you  really  are,  let  some 
barber  shave  the  remnant  of  your  hairs ;  nothing  is  more 
disgraceful  than  a  hold  man  tvearing  hair. — Lib.  x.  Ep. 

LXXXTII. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Human  Laws,  observes,  "that 
in  the  days  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  the  Christians  thought  it  a 
very  horrid  thing  to  wear  false  hair,  and  Calvo  turpius  est  nihil 
comato,  said  Martial  to  Marinus,  nothing  is  more  deformed,  nothing 
more  unhandsome.  Now,  although  it  be  not  so  in  itself,  yet  when 
the  hearts  of  men  are  generally  against  it  (for  so  it  was  then,  though 
it  be  not  so  now),  if  any  law  had  prohibited  the  wearing  of  perukes, 
the  conscience  had  been  greatly  obliged;  for  the  law  did  lay  much 
upon  it,  even  so  much  as  all  the  evil  of  the  public  infamy  did  amount 
to.  If  the  matter  of  human  laws  be  in  itself  trifling  and  inconsi- 
derate, yet  they  are  binding  on  conscience,  if  they  forbid  on  account 
of  public  disestimation."  Domitian  is  said  to  have  written  a  treatise 
very  elegantly  on  the  subject  of  preserving  the  hair,  to  prevent 
baldness.  Martial,  in  another  epigram,  compares  a  plagiarist  to  a 
Calvus  comatus. 


o2 


196  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CXXXIX. 

HAIR-CUTTING. 

I  was  unwilling,  Polytimus,  to  violate  your  hairs  (nolue- 
ram,  Polytime,  tuos  violate  capillos)  ;  but,  now,  I  am  glad 
that  I  yielded  to  your  entreaties  in  doing  so.  Thus,  0  Pelops ! 
you  appeared  after  your  locks  had  been  recently  cut,  when 
you  shone  with  shortened  hair,  in  order  that  your  intended 
bride  might  behold  your  whole  ivory  shoulder. — Lib.  xn. 
Ep.  LXXXVI. 

Pope's  motto  to  his  Rape  of  the  Lock,  is, 

Nolueram,  Belinda,  tuos  violare  capillos ; 
Sed  juvat  hoc  precibus  me  tribuisse  tuis. 

In  which  the  first  two  lines  of  Martial's  epigram  are  preserved,  sub- 
stituting only  Belinda  for  Polytime.  The  latter  of  these  lines  is  not 
very  appropriate  to  Miss  Fermor's  case;  for  the  first  hair-cutting  was 
an  event  which  Martial's  slave-boy  appears  to  have  wished  for  sooner 
than  his  master,  whereas  the  taking  of  Miss  Fermor's  lock,  (which,  the 
poet  says,  ornamented  her  ivory  neck,)  was  a  decided  case  of  rape. 


CXL. 

DYEING   HAIR. 


You  simulate  youth,  Lentinus,  with  your  dyed  hairs;  so 
suddenly  a  crow,  who  were  so  lately  a  swan.  You  do  not 
deceive  every  one:  Proserpina  knows  you  for  a  greybeard, 
she  will  tear  off  the  masque  from  your  head. — Lib.  in. 
Ep.  XLIII. 

Addison,  in  his  travels,  when  speaking  of  the  ancient  masks, 
mentions  that  he  saw  "  the  figure  of  Thalia,  the  comic  Muse,  some- 
times with  an  entire  head-piece  in  her  hand,  sometimes  with  about 


IV.]  ROMAN    LIFE.  197 

half  the  head,  and  a  little  friz,  like  a  tower,  running  round  the  edges 
of  the  face,  and,  sometimes,  with  a  mask  for  the  face  only,  like  those 
of  a  modern  make.  Some  of  the  Italian  actors  wear,  at  present,  these 
masks  for  the  whole  head.  I  remember  formerly  I  could  have  no 
notion  of  that  fable  in  Phaedrus  before  I  had  seen  the  figures  of  these 
entire  head-pieces : 

As  wily  reynard  walk'd  the  streets  at  night, 
On  a  tragedian's  mask  he  chanc'd  to  light, 
Turning  it  o'er,  he  mutter'd  with  disdain, 
How  vast  a  head  is  here  without  a  brain. 

I  find  Madam  Dacier  has  taken  notice  of  this  passage  in  Phsedrus 
upon  the  same  occasion,  but  not  of  the  following  one  in  Martial, 
which  alludes  to  the  same  kind  of  masks: 

Non  omnes  fallis:  scit  te  Proserpina  canum, 
Personam  capiti  detrahet  ilia  tuo. 

"Why  should'st  thou  try  to  hide  thyself  in  youth, 
Impartial  Proserpine  beholds  the  truth, 
And  laughing  at  so  fond  and  vain  a  task, 
Will  strip  thy  hoary  noddle  of  its  mask. 

It  may  be  observed  that  Virgil  mentions  as  a  cause  of  Dido's 
difficulty  in  dying,  that  Proserpina  had  not  cut  off  her  hair : 

Nondum  illi  flavum  Proserpina  vertice  crinem 
Abstulerat,  Stygioque  caput  damnaverat  Oreo. 

Jeremy  Taylor  quotes  Martial's  epigram  in  his  Discourse  on  the 
Remedies  against  the  Fear  of  Death;  he  observes  upon  it,  that  "  arts 
of  protraction  and  delaying  the  significations  of  old  age  have  the 
effect,  that  men,  in  thinking  to  deceive  the  world,  cozen  themselves. 
By  representing  themselves  youthful  they  continue  their  vanity  till 
Proserpina  pulls  the  peruke  from  their  heads.  We  cannot  deceive 
God  and  Nature :  a  coffin  is  a  coffin,  though  it  be  covered  with  a 
pompous  veil.  They  that,  three  hundred  years  ago,  died  unwillingly, 
and  stayed  death  two  days  or  a  week,  what  is  their  gain  1  Where  is 
that  week?" 


CHAPTER  V. 
ROMAN    HISTORY. 


The  history  of  Rome  enabled  Martial,  on  a  few  occasions, 
to  soar  to  a  higher  eminence  on  Parnassus  than  was  com- 
patible with  the  subjects  of  most  of  his  epigrams :  there  will 
be  found,  in  the  present  chapter,  some  poetry  indicative  of  an 
elevated  genius.  The  personal  history  of  the  emperors  is  not 
confined  to  the  present  chapter,  but  may  be  collected  inciden- 
tally from  the  others,  and  more  especially  from  the  succeeding 
chapter  on  Mythology,  in  which  several  emperors  are  made  to 
figure  as  Gods. 

The  modern  uses  applicable  to  the  present  head  have  been 
miscellaneous,  though,  in  general,  not  differing  widely  from 
the  purport  of  the  original  epigrams.  When  a  good  modern 
history  shall  be  written  of  the  reigns  of  Domitian,  Nerva, 
and  Trajan,  much  use  will  undoubtedly  be  made  of  various 
passages  in  Martial,  which,  for  want  of  such  use,  must,  in  the 
present  work,  be  passed  over,  or  only  cursorily  noticed.  For 
the  like  reason,  many  adulatory  epigrams  on  the  emperors 
are  omitted,  though  not  for  want  of  plenty  of  modern  parallel 


CH.  V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  199 

CXLL 
ABBIA. 

When  (chaste)  Arria  gave  to  Paetus  the  sword  which  she 
had  drawn  out  of  her  own  bosom,  she  exclaimed  (si  qua  fides), 
"The  wound  which  I  have  made  is  not  painful.  But  I  am 
pained  for  that  which  you  will  make." — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xiv. 

The  poetical  versions  of  this  epigram  are  multitudinous ;  the  fol- 
lowing are  specimens  of  translations  of  it,  or  of  its  concluding  point : 

My  wound,  said  she,  but  wastes  unvalued  breath, 
'Tis  thine,  dear  Paetus,  gives  the  sting  to  death. 

Hill. 

My  wound,  she  said,  believe  me,   does  not  smart, 
'Tis  thine  alone,  my  Paetus,  pains  my  heart. 

Melmoth. 

When  Arria  to  her  Paetus  gave  the  steel, 

Which  from  her  bleeding  side  did  newly  part; 

From  my  own  stroke,  said  she,  no  pain  I  feel, 
But  ah!  thy  wound  will  stab  me  to  the  heart. 

Sir  G.  Sedley. 

'Tis  done,  and,  trust  me,  not  a  pang  succeeds, 
For  Arria  feels  not  till  her  Paetus  bleeds. 

Stisted. 

The  story  of  Arria  and  Paetus  is  related  in  the  72nd  number  of 
the  Tatler,  in  which  the  above  epigram  is  praised  as  "  one  of  the  best 
transmitted  to  us  from  antiquity."  According  to  Dio  Cassius,  Tacitus, 
Pliny,  and  other  writers,  Arria  only  uttered  the  expression  "  Pcete, 
nondoletl"  ("Paetus,  it  is  not  painful!")  In  Spence's  A necdotes  is 
mentioned  a  group  of  Arria  and  Paetus  by  a  Greek  artist ;  and  it  is 
observed  that  the  blow  which  Paetus  gave  himself  is  represented  as  a 
"  very  bold  stroke,  and  takes  away  the  false  idea  one  might  have  got 
of  him  from  the  well-known  epigram  of  Martial." 

Jortin  thought  it  impossible  to  make  a  good  epigram  on  the  story. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  the  words  Pcete,  non  dolet !  could  not  be  para- 
phrased without  losing  much  of  their  beauty.     He  considered  that  in 


200  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

the  last  line  of  the  above  epigram  was  expressed  a  tenderness  and 
fondness  which  did  not  well  suit  with  that  heroic  love  so  strongly 
marked  in  Arria's  words  and  behaviour.  It  would  seem  that,  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  the  transaction  to  his  readers,  Martial  had 
diluted  the  expression  Pcete,  non  dolet !  in  the  last  line  but  one  of  his 
epigram;  and,  with  a  like  view,  in  his  last  line,  had  expressed  what 
might  be  implied  from  Arria's  three  words. 

Montagne,  in  an  essay  on  the  subject  of  Three  Good  Women,  com- 
mences with  an  ungallant  remark,  that  good  women  are  not  by  the 
dozen,  as  every  one  knows.  He  observes  of  Arria,  one  of  his  trio, 
that  her  action  was  much  more  noble  in  itself  than  the  poet  could 
express  it :  she  had  in  the  last  gasp  of  her  life  no  other  concern  but 
for  him,  and  of  dispossessing  him  of  the  fear  of  dying  with  her.  Pliny, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  relates  other  intrepid  actions  by  Arria,  no  less 
heroic  than  her  non  dolet !  concluding  that  the  most  famous  actions 
are  not  always  the  most  noble.  The  death  of  Arria  is  represented 
in  a  picture  with  poetry  in  the  Galerie  des  Femmes  fortes. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Pope,  who  was  familiar  with  Martial, 
should  have  omitted  any  reference  to  the  above  epigram,  when,  in  a 
letter  to  Edward  Blunt,  Esq.,  he  writes,  "I  think  it  a  fine  and  natural 
thought,  which  I  lately  read  in  a  letter  of  Montague's  giving  an 
account  of  the  last  words  of  an  intimate  friend  of  his,  *  Adieu,  my 
friend!  the  pain  I  feel  will  soon  be  over;  but  I  grieve  for  that  you 
are  to  feel,  which  is  to  last  you  for  life.'" 

Gray,  who  excelled  in  the  exquisite  mosaic  work  of  his  com- 
positions, may,  perhaps  appear  to  have  interwoven  the  sentiment 
which  Martial  appends  to  Arria's  non  dolet !  in  an  epitaph  on  Mrs 
Clarke,  the  grief  of  whose  bereaved  husband  he  depictures.  Of  her- 
self he  writes, 

In  agony,   in  death,  resigned, 

She  felt  the  wound  she  left  behind. 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  201 

CXLII. 

MUCIUS  SC^VOLA. 

The  hand  of  Scsevola,  by  which  he  missed  the  killing  of 
Porsena,  by  mistaking  his  attendant  for  him,  was  thrust  by 
him  into  the  flames  of  an  altar.  The  king,  though  an  enemy, 
could  not  suffer  this  marvellous  proof  of  fortitude  to  be  con- 
tinued, but  ordered  Scaavola  to  be  drawn  from  the  fire,  and  to 
be  set  free.  The  hand  which  Scsevola  could  burn  in  contempt 
of  the  flames,  Porsena  could  not  look  upon  without  emotion. 
The  fame  and  glory  of  that  hand  was  greater  for  having  been 
deceived ;  had  it  not  erred,  it  had  performed  a  less  achieve- 
ment (si  non  err  asset,  fecerat  ilia  minus). — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xxii. 

The  epigram  has  been  translated  by  Fletcher,  and  by  Dr  Hodgson, 
late  Provost  of  Eton.  The  concluding  lines  of  the  version  by  the 
latter  are, 

Had  it  not  err'd,  that  hand  had  never  gain'd 
So  great  a  fame,  or  done  a  deed  so  bold. 

The  conclusion  of  Fletcher's  version  is, 

The  failing  hand  the  greater  glory  found; 
Had  it  not  err'd,  it  had  been  less  renown'd. 

Scaliger  has  an  epigram  upon  the  subject,  in  which  he  makes 
Mucius  disclaim  his  right  hand  because  it  had  not  proved  the  hand  of 
his  country.  It  was  a  saying  of  Home  Tooke,  concerning  intel- 
lectual philosophy,  that  "he  had  become  better  acquainted  with 
the  country  through  his  having  had  the  good  luck  sometimes  to  lose 
his  way,  observing,  si  non  errasset,  fecerat  ille  minus." — (Sharpe's 
Essays.') 

Dr  Malkin,  in  his  Classical  Disquisitions,  observes  that  Virgil 
takes  no  notice  of  Scaevola  among  early  Roman  heroes,  and  that  Livy 
offers  an  apology  for  his  crime.  Sir  G.  C.  Lewis,  in  his  Inquiry  into 
the  Credibility  of  early  Roman  History,  gives  several  curious  particu- 
lars concerning  Mucius  Scsevola :  he  observes  that  the  assassination  of 
an  enemy  in  the  manner  attempted  by  Mucins  is  justified  by  Grotius 


202  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH, 

and  Puffendorf.  In  the  list  of  Court  Revels  for  1756,  it  appears 
that  there  was  acted  before  Queen  Elizabeth,  "The  Historie  of 
Mucius  Scsevola  showen  at  Hampton  Court  on  twelf-daie  at  night 
enacted  by  the  children  of  Wyndsor  and  the  chapell."  Gay,  in  pre- 
dicting the  fate  of  certain  critics  on  an  opera  upon  the  subject,  in- 
timates that  they,  like  Mucius  Scsevola,  will  burn  their  fingers. 
The  motto  of  the  94th  number  of  the  Toiler  is, 

Si  non  errasset,  fecerat  ille  minus. 
Had  he  not  erred,  his  glory  had  been  less. 

The  Paper  contains,  in  illustration  of  the  motto,  a  romantic  story 
of  modern  life,  in  which  a  lover  saves  a  wrong  lady  from  a  theatre 
which  was  on  fire;  and,  on  finding  his  mistake,  runs  back  when  it 
is  too  late  to  save,  but  not  to  meet,  his  mistress,  and  they  are  burnt 
in  each  other's  arms. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Habitual  Sins,  observes  that 
"  all  holy  penitents  ought  to  arise  to  greater  excellence  than  if  they 
had  never  sinned. 

Major  deceptae  fama  est  et  gloria  dextrae, 
Si  non  errasset,  fecerat  ilia  minus. 

Scsevola's  hand  grew  famous  for  being  deceived,  and  it  had  been  less 
reputation  to  have  struck  his  enemy  to  the  heart,  than  to  do  such 
honourable  infliction  upon  it  for  missing." 


CXLIII. 
PORTIA. 


When  Portia  had  been  told  the  fate  of  her  husband 
Brutus,  and  her  grief  had  made  her  complain  that  every 
weapon  had  been  withdrawn  from  her,  "Have  you  not  yet 
learned,"  she  said,  "  that  death  cannot  be  denied  ?  I  thought 
that  my  father  (Cato)  might  have  taught  you  this,"  she 
spoke,  and  with  a  greedy  mouth  swallowed  the  flaming  em- 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  203 

bers,  exclaiming,  "Go  now,  troublesome  crowd,  deny  me  a 
sword." — Lib.  i.  Ep.  xliii. 

The  above  epigram  may  probably  have  suggested  the  following,  by 
Flaminio,  on  Yittoria  Colonna : 

Non  vivam  sine  te,  mi  Brute,  exterrita  dixit 

Portia,  et  ardentes  sorbuit  ore  faces. 
Davale,  te  extincto,  dixit  Victoria,  vivam, 

Perpetuo  msestos  sic  dolitura  dies. 
Utraque  Romana  est,  sed  in  hoc  Victoria  major, 

Nulla  dolere  potest  mortua,  viva  dolet. 

Lamb,  in  a  note  to  his  translation  of  Catullus,  writes,  "  Catullus 
reproaches  himself  with  still  surviving  under  disgraceful  rulers.  Sui- 
cide is  scarcely  reprobated  by  the  ancients."  (See,  however,  the  sixth 
JEneid.)  "  Martial  makes  Portia,  in  a  beautiful  epigram,  assert  it  as 
a  right  not  to  be  refused"  (rather  that  self-destruction  cannot  be  pre- 
vented).    He  gives  the  following  version  of  the  epigram : 

When  the  sad  tale,  how  Brutus  fell,  was  brought, 
And  slaves  refused  the  weapon  Portia  sought; 
"Know  ye  not  yet,"  she  said,  with  towering  pride, 
"Death  is  a  boon  that  cannot  be  denied? 
I  thought  my  father  amply  had  imprest 
This  simple  truth  upon  each  Roman  breast." 
Dauntless  she  gulph'd  the  embers  as  they  flamed, 
And,  while  their  heat  within  her  raged,  exclaimed, 
"  Now,  troublous  guardians  of  a  life  abhorr'd, 
Still  urge  your  caution,  and  refuse  the  sword." 

The  epigram  is  thus  rendered  by  Smart : 

When  Brutus'  fall  wing'd  fame  to  Portia  brought 
Those  arms  her  friends  conceal'd,  her  passion  sought: 
She  soon  perceiv'd  their  poor  officious  wiles, 
Approves  their  zeal,  but  at  their  folly  smiles: 
What  Cato  taught  Heaven  sure  cannot  deny, 
Bereav'd  of  all,  we  still  have  pow'r  to  die. 
Then  down  her  throat  the  burning  coal  convey'd, 
Go  now,  ye  fools,   and  hide  your  swords,  she  said. 


204  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 


CXLIV. 

CICERO. 

Antony!  you  have  no  right  to  upbraid  Photinus  (Pto- 
lemy's agent  in  the  assassination  of  Pompey) ;  you,  who  in- 
flicted a  greater  injury  on  your  country  by  the  death  of 
Cicero  than  by  your  whole  proscription!  madly  you  draw 
your  sword  against  the  mouth  of  Rome,  a  crime  with  which 
even  Catiline  would  not  have  defiled  himself.  An  impious 
soldier  was  corrupted  by  your  wicked  and  profuse  gold  to 
procure  for  you  the  silence  of  a  single  tongue.  But  what 
avails  you  the  dear-bought  suppression  of  his  sacred  elo- 
quence? the  whole  world  will  rise  to  speak  for  Cicero, — Lib.  v. 
Up.  LXX. 

Dryden,  in  his  Life  of  Lucian,  speaking  of  a  Dutch  critic  who 
had  arraigned  Lucian' s  taste  and  understanding,  writes,  "The  jaundice 
is  only  in  his  own  eyes,  which  makes  Lucian  look  yellow  to  him.  All 
mankind  will  exclaim  against  him  for  preaching  this  doctrine,  and  be 
of  opinion,  when  they  read  his  Lucian,  that  he  looked  in  a  glass  when 
he  drew  his  picture.  I  wish  I  had  the  liberty  to  lash  this  frog-land 
wit  as  he  deserves;  but,  when  a  speech  is  not  seconded  in  Parliament, 
it  falls  of  course ;  and  this  author  has  the  whole  senate  of  the  learned 
to  pull  him  down :  incipient  omnes  pro  Cicerone  loqui" 

In  Voltaire's  Questions  sur  V Encyclopedic,  Art.  Ciceron,  is  a 
defence  of  Cicero's  character  and  writings  against  a  French  author, 
who  had  vituperated  them.  He  concludes  "  Plaignons  ceux  qui  ne 
lisent  pas,  plaignons  encore  plus  ceux  qui  ne  lui  rendent  pas  justice. 
Opposons  au  detracteur  Francois  les  vers  de  l'Espagnol  Martial: 

Quid  prosunt  sacrse  pretiosa  silentia  linguae? 
Incipient  omnes  pro  Cicerone  loqui. 

Ta  prodigue  fureur  acheta  son  silence;    mais  l'univers  entier  parle 
a  jamais  pour  lui." 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  205 

CXLV. 

ANTONY. 

Antony  committed  a  crime  equal  to  that  of  the  Egyptian 
assassin  (Photinus,  minister  of  Ptolemy) ;  each  sword  cut  off  a 
sacred  head.  One  head  was  your  glory,  0  Rome!  when  you 
led  your  laurelled  triumphs;  the  other,  when  you  put  forth 
your  eloquence.  But  the  crime  of  Antony  was  more  heinous 
than  that  of  Photinus;  the  Egyptian  incurred  guilt  for  a 
master;  Antony  for  himself. — Lib.  Hi.  Ep.  lxvi. 

Grotius,  in  his  celebrated  treatise  on  the  Bights  of  War  and  of 
Peace,  discusses,  at  considerable  length,  the  question  whether  a  person 
ought  (in  point  of  morality)  to  obey  his  government  when  commanded 
to  do  what  he  considers  contrary  to  rectitude.  He  observes,  that 
"  Disobedience  is  a  less  evil  than  homicide.  As  the  ancients  say  that 
the  Gods  did  not  venture  to  absolve  Mercury  for  the  death  of  Argus, 
though  done  by  the  command  of  Jupiter;  so  neither  does  Martial 
exculpate  Photinus  the  minister  of  Ptolemy : 

Antoni  tamen  est  pejor,  quam  causa  Photini: 
Hie  facinus  domino  prsestitit;  ille  sibi." 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  epigram  of  Martial  is  entitled  to  little 
or  no  weight  as  an  authority  upon  the  question  proposed  j  and  that 
its  import  is  contrary  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  cited,  for  it 
admits  the  plea  of  obedience  to  a  master  as  an  extenuating  circum- 
stance. In  a  recent  translation  of  Grotius  by  an  eminent  hand,  the 
passage  is  rendered :  "  And  so  Martial  condemns  Photinus,  the  attend- 
ant of  Ptolemy,  who  put  him  to  death,  as  worse  than  Antony,  who 
commanded  the  act."  This  translation  gives  consistency  to  Grotius's 
argument;  but  it  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  that  Jeremy  Taylor,  in 
his  Discourse  on  Human  Laws,  has  reconciled  Grotius  with  Martial 
in  a  more  satisfactory  manner.  He  writes,  after  quoting  Martial's 
epigram,  "Though  Antony  did  worse  for  his  own  revenge  to  kill 
Cicero,  yet  Photinus  did  ill  too  when  he  killed  the  brave  Pompey; 
though  at  the  command  of  his  master  Ptolemy  :  Antony  was  in- 
finitely to  be  condemned,  and  Photinus  not  to  be  justified." 


206  MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 


CXLVI. 
POMPEY. 

Asia  and  Europe  cover  the  sons  of  Pompey ;  Africa  covers 
Pompey  himself,  if  he  be  covered  at  all.  What  marvel  if  the 
remains  of  that  family  are  dispersed  over  the  whole  world? 
So  great  a  ruin  could  not  lie  buried  in  one  place. — Lib.  v. 
Ep.  LXXV. 

In  a  tract  on  Epitaphs  in  Hearne's  Curious  Discourses,  the  an- 
tiquary Camden  cites  an  epitaph  on  Richard  I.  not  exempt  from 
metrical  imperfection ;  with  reference  to  which  he  writes,  "  An  Eng- 
lish poet  imitating  the  epitaph  made  of  Pompey  and  his  children, 
whose  bodies  were  buried  in  divers  countries,  made  the  following  of 
the  glory  of  this  one  King,  divided  into  three  places  by  his  funeral : 

"Viscera  Cariolum,  Corpus  fons  servat  Ebraudi, 
Et  Cor  Rothomagum,  magne  Richarde,  tuum. 

In  tria  dividitur  unus,  qui  plus  fait  uno, 
Non  uno  jaceat  gloria  tanta  loco. 

"  Great  Richard !  Poictiers  has  thy  entrails,  Font  Everard  thy  body, 
Rouen  thy  heart — you  are  divided  into  three,  who  were  more  than 
one.  Glory  like  your's  cannot  lie  in  a  single  place."  Richard  L,  by 
his  own  testament,  directed  that  his  heart  should  be  sent  to  his 
faithful  city  of  Rouen,  his  body  buried  at  his  father's  feet  at  Font 
Everard,  and  his  entrails  among  his  rebellious  Poictevins. 

A  similar  imitation  of  Martial's  epigram  was  made  with  reference 
to  the  heart  and  brains  of  Henry  I.  having  been  buried  in  Normandy, 
and  his  body  in  England,  by  Ronulph,  a  poet  of  his  day,  and  who, 
like  the  poet  of  Richard  I.  was  not  punctilious  in  point  of  metre : 

Henrici  cujus  celebrat  vox  publica  nomen, 
Hoc,  pro  parte,  jacent  membra  sepulta  loco, 

Quern  neque  viventem  capiebat  terra,  nee  unus 
Defunctum  potuit  consepelire  locus. 

In  tria  partitus,  sua  jura  quibusque  resignat 
Partibus,  illustrans  sic  tria  regna  tribus. 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  207 

Spiritui  coelum:  cordi  cerebroque  dicata  est 
Neustria:  quod  dederat  Anglia,  corpus  habet. 

"The  remains  of  Henry,  whose  name  is  celebrated  by  the  public 
voice,  lie,  in  part,  in  this  place.  He  was  a  Prince,  whom,  when 
living,  one  country  could  not  contain:  so,  neither,  could  one  place 
suffice  for  his  burial.  Divided  into  three  parts,  he  bequeathed  to 
each  part  its  own  rights;  thus  adorning  three  kingdoms  with  their 
appropriate  portions.  His  spirit  is  resigned  to  heaven,  his  heart  and 
brains  to  Normandy,  his  body  to  England  which  gave  it  birth." 

The  following  inscription,  by  Theodore  Beza,  on  a  picture  of 
Erasmus  at  Basle,  may,  perhaps,  be  considered  as  an  arrow  taken 
from  the  same  quiver: 

Ingens  ingentem  quern  personat  orbis  Erasmum 

Hie  tibi  dimidium  picta  tabella  refert. 
At  cur  non  totum1?    Mirari  desine,  lector, 

Integra  nam  totum  terra  nee  ipsa  capit. 

"  This  picture  represents  to  you  the  half  figure  of  the  great  Erasmus, 
whose  fame  resounds  through  every  region  of  the  earth.  Why  have 
we  not  him  at  full  length!  Reader,  cease  your  marvelling:  the 
world  itself  could  not  contain  the  whole  of  Erasmus." 


CXLVII. 

OTHO,   CATO. 


Whilst  Bellona  was  wavering  as  to  the  issue  of  civil  war, 
and  there  was  a  chance  left  for  the  soft  Otho  (mollis  Otho) 
coming  off  victorious,  he  condemned  the  continuance  of  the 
sanguinary  contest,  and  pierced  his  naked  breast  with  an  un- 
erring hand.  Granted  that  Cato  was  superior  to  Otho  in  his 
life,  could  any  one  surpass  Otho  in  dying? — Lib.  VI.  Ep.  xxxn. 

With  regard  to  the  above  epigram,  Montagne,  in  an  Essay  on  the 
Character  of  Cato,  writes,  "  Ce  personage-la  fut  veritablement  un 
homme  que  nature  choisit  pour  monstrer  jusques  ou  l'humaine  ou 
payenne  fermete  et  Constance  pouvoit  atteindre :  Mais  je  ne  suis  pas 


208  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

icy  &  mesmes,  pour  traiter  ce  riche  argument:  je  veux  seulement 
faire  luiter  ensemble  les  traits  de  cinq  poetes  Latins  sur  la  louange 
de  Caton."  The  first  of  these  five  testimonies  is  taken  from  the  above 
epigram : 

Sit  Cato,  dum  vivit,  sane  vel  Csesare  major. 
Dry  den,  in  his  poem  of  Astrcea  Redux,  upon  the  subject  of  the 
Restoration,  has  these  lines  on  Charles  II. : 

He  would  not,  like  soft,  Otko,  hope  prevent, 
But  stay'd,  and  suffered  fortune  to  repent. 

On  which  Walter  Scott  observes,  that  "  it  was  no  extraordinary  com- 
pliment to  Charles,  that  he  did  not,  after  his  defeat  at  Worcester, 
follow  an  example  more  classical  than  inviting."  Murphy,  in  the 
notes  to  his  translation  of  Tacitus,  observes,  "  Plutarch  tells  us  that 
he  himself  visited  Otho's  tomb  at  Brixellum.  Those  perishable  ma- 
terials have  long  since  mouldered  away,  but  the  epitaph  written  by 
Martial  (the  above  epigram,  which  he  cites  at  length  in  the  original) 
will  never  die." 

Martial  has  another  epigram  more  expressly  on  Cato,  relative  to 
his  visit  to  the  Floral  Games,  from  which  is  taken  the  motto  of  the 
446th  number  of  the  Spectator,  and  that  of  the  122nd  number  of  the 
Tatler  on  the  appearance  of  Mr  Isaac  Bickerstaff  at  Drury  Lane 
Theatre,  viz.  Cur  in  theatrum,  Cato  severe,  venisti  ? 


CXLVIII. 

DOMITIAN'S  RETURN  FROM  THE  SARMATIAN  WAR. 

Whilst  the  recent  glory  of  the  Pannonian  War  is  related, 
and  sacrifices  at  all  altars  are  kindled  for  the  return  of  Jove 
(Domitian),  the  People,  the  Knights,  the  Senate  giving  frank- 
incense ;  and,  for  a  third  victory,  there  being  a  third  distribu- 
tion of  gifts  among  the  Latian  tribes  ; — although,  Domitian ! 
you  accept  only  a  laurel,  and  decline  a  public  triumph,  Rome 
will  celebrate  your  triumph  in  secrecy;  nor  will  the  laurel 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  209 

of  your  peace  (conceded  to  the  conquered  nations)  he  in- 
ferior to  one  of  war  (nee  minor  ista  tuas  laurea  pacis  erit). 
What,  now,  do  you  think  of  the  piety  of  the  nation  towards 
yourself?  It  is  the  first  virtue  of  Princes  to  know  their 
own. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xm. 

It  is  possible  that  Milton  may  have  had  this  epigram  in  his  view 
when  writing  that  celebrated  passage  of  his  sonnet  to  Cromwell : 

Peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  war. 

Lord  Bacon,  in  his  Essay,  entitled  Of  Counsel,  writes,  in  refer- 
ence to  some  inconvenience  of  counsel  which  he  had  stated,  "But 
the  best  remedy  is  if  Princes  knew  their  counsellors,  as  well  as  their 
counsellors  know  them : 

Principis  est  virtus  maxima,   nosse  suos." 

In  an  ancient  life  of  William  the  Conqueror,  in  the  Harleian 
Miscellany,  the  line  Principis  est  virtus  maxima,  nosse  suos,  is  quoted, 
and  applied  to  that  King.  In  Ben  Jonson's  Devices  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  King  James  passing  to  his  coronation,  the  figure  of  the 
Genius  of  the  City  of  London,  in  the  course  of  a  long  speech  to 
his  Majesty,  says : 

Never  came  man  more  long'd  for,  more  desir'd, 

And,  being  come,  more  reverenced,  loved,  admired. 

Hear  and  record  it,  "In  a  Prince  it  is 

No  little  virtue,  to  know  who  are  his." 


CXLIX. 

DOMITIAN  LOYED. 


(I.) 
0  Caesar!  although  you  make  so  many  liberal  donations, 
and  even  promise  to  exceed  them,  conqueror  as  you  are  of 
princes,  and  conqueror  of  yourself,  you  are  beloved  by  the 

MART.  p 


210  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

people  not,  surely,  on  account  of  your  largesses,  but  they  love 
your  largesses  for  your  sake. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  liv. 

(ii.) 
0  thou  chief  Governor  and  Parent  of  the  World !  though 
the  wintry  North,  and  the  barbarous  Peuce  (island  of  the 
Danube),  and  the  Danube  growing  warm  under  the  strikings 
of  hoofs,  (frozen),  and  the  Rhine,  whose  rebellious  horn  has 
been  thrice  broken,  detain  you  in  conquering  the  country  of  a 
perfidious  people,  yet  you  cannot  be  absent  from  our  vows. 
Even  there,  0  Csesar!  we  are  present  with  our  minds  and 
with  our  eyes;  and  to  such  a  degree  do  you  engross  the 
attention  of  every  one,  notwithstanding  your  absence,  that 
the  crowd  itself  of  the  great  circus  cannot  say  whether 
Passerinus  or  Tigris  is  running. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  vi. 

Jeremy  Taylor,   in  a  Discourse  on  the  Final  Cause  of  Human 
Actions,  writes,  "But  even  as  the  serving  of  God,  without  intuition 
of  the  reward,  is  virtually  a  serving  God  for  love  of  Him ;  so  serving 
God  out  of  mere  love  of  Him  is  virtually  serving  God  for  reward, 
Diligeris  populo  non  propter  praemia,  Caesar, 
Propter  te  populus  praemia,  Caesar,  amat. 
For  as  no  man  can  wisely  hope  for  the  reward  but  he  who  does  love 
God,  so  no  man  loves  God  purely  and  for  himself,  but  he  knows  also 
that  he  is  most  sure  of  his  reward.    It  is  like  St  Paul  wishing  himself 
anathema  for  his  brethren;  the  greater  charity  he  had  in  so  wishing, 
the  further  that  thing  was  from  being  effected." 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  Moore  has  borrowed  an  idea  from 
the  last  of  the  following  lines  of  another  epigram  of  Martial  relative 
to  the  phenomenon  alluded  to  in  the  above  epigrams : 
Dum  te  longa  sacro  venerantur  gaudia  circo, 

Nemo  quater  missos  currere  sensit  equos. 
Nullum  Roma  duceni,  nee  te  sic,  Caesar,  amavit, 
Te  quoque  jam  non  plus,  ut  velit  ipsa,  potest. 

Chloris,  I  swear  by  all  I  ever  swore, 
That  from  this  hour  I  shall  not  love  thee  more. 
"What!  love  no  more,  oh!  why  this  alter'd  vow?" 
Because  I  cannot  love  thee  more  than  now. 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  211 

CL. 

DOMITLAN  A  MAECENAS. 

(I.) 
The  crowd,  O  Augustus!  that  presents  petitions  to  you, 
and  I,  also,  who  offer  little  books  to  my  Lord,  are  persuaded 
that  God  can  attend  to  the  Muses  as  well  as  to  public  affairs, 
and  that  he  is  even  pleased  with  such  flowers.  0,  be  favour- 
able to  your  poets!  we  are  your  sweet  glory,  we  your  first 
care,  and  your  delight.  The  oak  and  the  laurel  of  Phoebus  do 
not  exclusively  become  you :  let  there  be  wreathed  for  you  a 
civic  crown  made  of  our  ivy. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  lxxxii. 

(ii.) 
On  my  petition,  he  who  alone  could  do  it  has  granted  me 
the  jus  trium  liberorum  (the  right  of  the  parents  of  three 
children).  Farewell !  (valebis,  a  term  of  divorce),  0  Avife !  the 
emperors  gift  ought  not  to  become  superfluous  (by  having 
three  children  in  the  natural  way). — Lib,  n.  Ep.  xcn. 

(in.) 
If  I  should  receive  two  supper  invitations,  one  from  Jove 
to  the  stars,  the  other  from  Caesar  to  his  heaven,  although  the 
distance  were  shorter  to  the  stars  than  to  the  imperial  palace, 
I  should  send  back  this  answer,  viz.  "  Find  another  guest  for 
the  Thunderer;  behold,  my  Jupiter  detains  me  on  earth." — 
Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xcin. 

Martial  is  usually  quoted  as  the  authority  for  the  practice  of  the 
emperors  conferring  the  right  of  three  children  (jus  trium  liberorum) 
on  those  who  had  none.  He  tells  us,  moreover,  that  he  was  an  Eques, 
which  was  probably  by  imperial  favour,  as  he  could  scarcely  have 
been  possessed  of  the  requisite  income,  since  he  was  perpetually  pay- 
ing early  and  distant  salutations,  borrowing,  or  begging  for  money  or 
clothes. 

The  third  epigram  would  appear  to  have  been  written  in  return 
for  ambrosia  received:  so  Statius  seems  to  have  been  transported  with 
enthusiasm  at  supping  with  Domitian : 

p2 


212  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Mediis  videor  discumbere  in  astris, 
Cum  Jove,  et  Iliaca  porrectum  sumere  dextra 
Immortale  merum :  steriles  transegimus  annos; 
'  Heec  sevi  mihi  prima  dies,  hie  limina  vitse. 
Magne  Parens,  te,  spes  hominum,  te,  cura  Deorum 
Cerno  jacens?  datur  hsec  juxta,  datur  ora  tueri 
Yina  inter,  mensasque,  et  non  assurgere  fas  est? 


-I 


Quintilian  and  Juvenal  have  left  strong  testimony  in  favour  of 
Domitian's  patronage  of  literature,  and  they  are  cited  for  this  purpose 
along  with  Martial's  epigrams,  by  Niebuhr.  It  will  probably  be  con- 
cluded that  Domifcian  may  have  been  capable  of  more  refined  amuse- 
ments than  the  one  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  taken  particular 
interest,  the  catching  of  flies. 


CLI. 

NERVA'S  ACCESSION. 


(I.) 
Nerva,  the  most  mild  of  Roman  senators,  has  commenced 
his  reign.  We  are  now  admitted  to  the  full  enjoyment  of 
Helicon.  Fear  has  vanished,  and  in  its  place  are  returned 
undeviating  Faith,  cheerful  Clemency,  and  limited  Power. 
This,  pious  Rome !  is  the  prayer  of  all  your  own  people,  and 
of  your  tributary  nations,  that  you  may  always  have  such  an 
emperor,  and  himself  a  long  time !  0  Nerva !  persevere  in 
a  character  so  rare  as  your  own,  and  in  your  own  manners, 
which  would  be  approved  alike  by  sage  Numa  and  cheerful 
Cato.  You  now  exercise  the  power  of  indulging  in  largesses, 
and  in  promises,  for  which  the  benignant  deities  have  scarcely 
supplied  resources  :  but  you  had  the  will  before  you  had  the 
power,  since,  under  a  severe  prince,  and  in  bad  times,  you 
had  the  courage  to  be  good. — Lib.  xn.  Ep.  vi. 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  213 

(II.) 

Vainly,  ye  flatteries,  you  present  yourselves  to  me  in  a 
miserable  plight,  with  worn-out  lips.  I  am  not  going  to  sing 
of  a  Lord  or  of  a  God.  Rome  is  no  longer  a  place  for  you* 
Go  far  away  to  the  cap-clad  (pileatos)  Parthians ;  and  base, 
humiliated,  and  suppliant  as  ye  are,  kiss  the  feet  of  their 
painted  kings.  We  have  not  a  Lord,  but  an  emperor,  but 
a  senator  who  is  a  paragon  of  justice.  He  it  is  who  has 
brought  back  to  Rome  Truth  in  a  rustic  garb  and  with  unper- 
fumed  tresses  from  the  mansions  of  Styx.  Under  this  Prince, 
0  Rome,  beware  how  you  repeat  your  former  adulatory  lan- 
guage.— Lib.  x.  Ep.  Lxxii. 

The  passage  in  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams,  Licet  toto  nunc 
Helicone  frui,  was  adopted  by  Ben  Jonson  as  the  motto  to  his  Pane- 
gyre  on  the  happy  entrance  of  James  our  Sovereign  to  his  first  high 
session  of  Parliament  in  this  his  kingdom. 

In  a  speech,  by  Hollis,  on  the  impeachment  of  the  ship-money 
judges,  the  last  line  of  the  same  epigram  is  thus  applied  to  Sir  Ran- 
dolph Crewe,  who  dissented  from  the  ship-money  judgment:  "He 
kept  his  innocency  when  others  let  theirs  go ;  when  himself  and  the 
commonwealth  were  alike  deserted ;  which  raises  his  merit  to  a  higher 
pitch.  For  to  be  honest,  when  every  body  else  is  honest,  when  honesty 
is  in  fashion,  and  is  tramp,  as  I  may  say,  is  nothing  so  meritorious. 
But  to  stand  alone  in  the  breach,  to  own  honesty  when  others  dare 
not  do  it,  cannot  be  sufficiently  applauded  or  sufficiently  rewarded. 
And  that  did  this  good  old  man  do ;  for  in  a  time  of  general  desertion 
he  preserved  himself  pure  and  untainted,  temporibusque  malis,  ausus 
es  esse  bonus." 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogue  on  Medals,  gives  the  following  version 
of  a  part  of  the  second  epigram : 

In  vain,  mean  flatteries  ye  try 
To  gnaw  the  lip,  and  fall  the  eye. 
No  man  a  God  or  Lord  I  name: 
From  Romans  far  be  such  a  shame! 
Go,  teach  the  supple  Parthian  how 
To  veil  the  bonnet  on  his  brow: 


214  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Or  on  the  ground  all  prostrate  fling 
Some  Pict,  before  his  barbarous  King. 

It  may  seem  that  Martial  sent  his  tribe  of  personified  flatteries, 
not  to  teach  the  Parthians,  but  to  kiss  as  they  did  in  Parthia :  so  the 
flinging  of  a  Pict  on  the  ground  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to 
any  of  Martial's  commentators,  who  have  construed  Pictorum  as  mean- 
ing not  Picts,  but,  adjectively,  painted,  rendering  it  as  applied  to  the 
spendid  robes  of  the  Parthian  Kings,  which  are  spoken  of  by  other 
authors. 

Addison,  in  illustrating  an  old  coin  struck  in  commemoration  of 
a  victory  of  Lucius  Yerus  over  the  Parthians,  writes,  "  You  see  on 
the  captive's  head  the  cap  which  the  Parthians,  and,  indeed,  most  of 
the  Eastern  nations,  wear  on  medals.  Martial  has  distinguished  them 
by  this  cap  (pileatos),  as  their  chief  characteristic." 

Selden,  in  his  Titles  of  Honour,  when  treating  of  the  kissing  of 
the  Emperor's  and  Pope's  feet,  observes,  that  "Martial,  in  Kerva's 
time,  rejected  those  base  flatteries  which  had  been  paid  to  Domitian, 
for  he  saith 

Ad  Parthos  procul  ite  pileatos, 

Et  turpes,  humilesque,  supplicesque 

Pictorum  sola  basiate  regum." 

The  conversers  in  Addison's  Dialogue  on  Medals  are  very  severe 
on  Martial  for  his  strictures  on  Domitian,  in  this  epigram :  "  I  can- 
not hear,  says  Cynthio,  without  indignation,  the  satirical  reflection 
which  Martial  has  made  on  the  memory  of  Domitian.  It  is  certain 
so  ill  an  Emperor  deserved  all  the  reproaches  that  could  be  heaped 
upon  him,  but  he  did  not  deserve  them  of  Martial.  I  must  confess 
I  am  less  scandalised  at  the  flatteries  the  epigrammatist  paid  him 
when  living,  than  the  ingratitude  he  showed  him  when  dead." 

Martial's  tergiversation  animadverted  on  by  Addison  may  have 
supplied  Swift  with  thoughts  on  the  same  subject,  though  it  is  not 
necessary  to  suppose  that  he  went  back  to  the  ancients  for  incidents 
of  very  common  modern  occurrence : 

A.  Prince,  the  moment  he  is  crown' d, 
Inherits  every  virtue  round, 
As  emblems  of  the  sovereign  pow'r, 
Like  other  baubles  in  the  Tow'r. 


-•] 


ROMAN    HISTORY. 

But,  once  you  fix  him  in  the  tomb, 
His  virtues  fade,  his  vices'  bloom, 
His  panegyrics  then  are  ceas'd, 
He  grows  a  tyrant,  dunce,  or  beast. 
As  soon  as  you  can  hear  his  knell, 
This  god  on  earth  turns  devil  in  hell. 


215 


CLII. 
TRAJAN'S   RESTITUTION. 

Peisce  Trajan!  may  the  Gods  grant  you  all  the  rewards 
due  to  your  deserts  and  ratify  in  perpetuity  whatever  they 
grant!  especially  for  your  act  of  restitution  to  despoiled 
patrons,  whereby  they  will  enjoy  again  the  right  of  succession 
and  other  benefits  and  powers  of  patronage,  of  which  they 
had  been  deprived  by  Doinitian,  who  exiled  them  front  their 
own  freedmen.  You  were  worthy  to  have  an  unimpaired 
Roman  citizen  for  your  own  client,  a  boon  which,  if  the 
claim  of  patronage  be  established  by  any  exile,  you  will 
not  fail  to  ratify. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  xxxiv. 

The  commentators  are  at  variance  concerning  the  import  of  the 
above  epigram,  some  thinking  that  it  had  reference  to  all  patrons, 
all  having  been  deprived  of  some  of  their  rights  over  their  freedmen 
by  Domitian.  With  regard  to  a  modern  use  of  the  epigram; — Upon 
the  trial  of  Garnet,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  for  the  Gunpowder  Plot, 
the  Earl  of  Northampton,  who  was  a  member  of  the  commission 
for  his  trial,  addressed  to  him  a  speech  after  the  peers  had  found  him 
guilty,  and  before  sentence  was  passed :  the  Earl  afterwards  pub- 
lished his  speech,  which  is  an  extraordinary  specimen  of  the  pedantry 
of  the  times;  he  concludes  his  exhortation  to  Garnet,  thus,  "  Withal, 
as  Martial  did  for  Trajan,  do  thou  wish  for  the  best  of  Majesty,  to 
whom  you  meant  the  worst  of  malice  : 

Di  tibi  dent  quicquid,  Princeps  Auguste  (Trajane,  orig.)  mcrcris, 
Et  rata  perpetuo,  qure  tribuere,  velint." 


216 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


CLIII. 
TRAJAN'S   ENTRY   INTO   ROME. 

Happy  they  to  whom  the  urns  containing  the  lots  of  life 
have  given  to  behold  the  Emperor  glittering  with  Northern 
suns  and  stars!  When  will  come  that  day  on  which  the 
fields,  and  the  trees,  and  every  window  shall  shine  adorned 
by  the  fair  sex  of  Latiuni,  and  there  shall  be  delays  in  the 
end  productive  of  pleasure,  and  the  dust  of  Caesars  caval- 
cade shall  be  seen  from  afar;  and  the  whole  of  Rome  shall 
be  visible  to  all  on  the  Flaminian  way  (leading  from  the 
North),  and  you,  0  Csesar,  shall  lead  the  procession  in  the 
garb  of  a  Roman  Knight,  and  accompanied  by  a  retinue  of 
painted  Africans,  habited  in  their  native  costume,  and 
there  shall  be  but  one  word  of  the  people,  "venit"  (he 
comes)  ? — Lib.  x.  Ep.  vi. 


This  epigram  seems  to  bear  upon  the  point  whether  Roman 
windows  usually  looked  into  the  streets  (which  those  at  Pompeii 
very  rarely  did),  though  Becker  does  not  notice  it  in  his  remarks  on 
that  controversy  (Lucebit  Latia  culta  fenestra  nuru).  It  is  stated 
by  Pliny  that  Trajan  on  the  occasion  alluded  to  entered  Rome  on 
foot,  and  Dio  mentions  that  he  always  accompanied  his  armies  on 
foot.  Raderus  and  Becker  infer  from  the  above  epigram  that  Rome 
was  illuminated,  and  they  adduce  other  instances  of  Roman  illumi- 
nations. Ben  Jonson,  in  his  description  of  King  James's  procession 
to  Parliament,  which  has  a  motto  from  Martial,  outvies  him  in  the 
same  strain  of  adulation : 

Some  cry  from  tops  of  houses;    thinking  noise 
The  fittest  herald  to  proclaim  true  joys. 
Others  on  ground,  run  gazing  by  his  side, 
All  as  unwearied  as  unsatisfied: 
And  every  window  grieved  it  could  not  move 
Along  with  him,  and  the  same  trouble  prove. 


V.]  ROMAN    HISTORY.  217 

The  happiness  of  those  whose  urns  gave  them  the  joy  of  seeing 

the  Emperor  is  paralleled,  if  not  imitated,  in  Cowley's  eulogy  on 

Charles  II.,  whose  entry  into  London  resembled  that  of  Trajan  into 

Home : 

Happy  who  did  remain 

Unborn  till  Charles's  reign! 

Cowley  transcends  Martial  in  the  description  of  noises  and  illumi- 
nations : 

Come,  mighty  Charles!  desire  of  nations,  come! 
Come,  yon  triumphant  exile,  home! 
He's  come,  he's  safe  on  shore;  I  hear  the  noise 
Of  a  whole  land,  which  does  at  once  rejoice. 
The  mighty  shout  sends  to  the  sea  a  gale, 
And  swells  up  every  sail: 
The  bells  and  guns  are  scarcely  heard  at  all, 
Th'  artificial  joy's  drown'd  by  the  natural. 
All  England  but  one  bonfire  seems  to  be, 
One  .ZEtna  shooting  flames  into  the  sea. 
The  starry  worlds  that  shine  to  us  afar, 
Take  ours  at  this  time  for  a  star. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
MYTHOLOGY. 


The  epigrams  of  Martial  relating  to  the  mythology  of  the 
Romans  are  chiefly  connected  with  adulation  to  the  emperors, 
of  the  extent  of  which  adulation  they  afford  some  striking 
examples.  The  epigrams  of  this  class,  moreover,  bring  forward 
several  of  the  most  remarkable  attributes  and  insignia  of  the 
Pagan  divinities;  whilst  they  suggest  interesting  reflections 
arising  from  the  undisguised  manner  in  which  a  popular  poet 
treated  the  superstitions  of  the  vulgar.  Some  of  the  following 
epigrams  on  rivers  and  cities  exemplify  the  mythological  halo 
with  which  the  ancient  poets  invested  the  scenes  of  Nature, 
as  Gray  describes  it : 

Where  each  old  poetic  mountain 

Inspiration  breath' d  around, 
Ev'ry  shade  and  hallo w'd  fountain 

Murmur'd  deep  a  solemn  sound. 

The  modern  uses  of  the  epigrams  comprised  in  the  present 
Chapter  are  principally  to  be  found  in  Addison's  Dialogues 
on  Medals,  Spence's  Polymetis,  and  in  treatises  on  Roman 
antiquities.  Addison  undertook  the  unriddling,  as  he  calls  it, 
of  ancient  medals  by  the  aid  of  the  Latin  poets,  observing 
that  "  there  cannot  be  any  more  authentic  illustrations  of 
Roman  medals,  especially  those  that  are  full  of  fancy,  than 
such  as  are  drawn  from  the  poets."  And,  in  speaking  of  the 
personifications  of  the  Virtues  (of  which  several  have  been 


CH.  VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  219 

already  noticed  in  this  work)  as  "  imaginary  persons  inhabit- 
ing old  coins/'  he  says  that  they  are  "generally  shown  in 
petticoats,  and  that,  although  they  are  a  little  fantastical  in 
their  dress,  they  have  not  a  single  ornament  for  which  the 
poets  cannot  assign  a  reason."  The  design  of  Spence,  in  his 
Poly  metis,  is  to  compare*  the  descriptions  and  expressions  in 
the  Roman  poets  that  can  in  any  way  relate  to  imaginary 
beings,  with  the  works  that  remain  to  us  of  the  old  masters, 
and  to  examine  the  mutual  lights  which  they  cast  on  each 
other. 

The  classical  poets  were  frequently  put  into  requisition 
during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I.  for  the  proper 
functions  and  costume  of  allegorical  personages  in  masques 
and  pageants.  Sir  John  Harrington,  for  instance,  has  left  us 
an  account  of  a  number  of  allegorical  personages  getting  in- 
toxicated at  Theobalds  on  the  occasion  of  the  banquet  given 
there  to  James  I.  and  the  king  of  Denmark ;  when,  he  writes, 
that  Peace,  "much  contrary  to  her  semblance,  most  rudely 
made  war  with  her  olive-branch,  and  laid  on  the  pates  of 
those  who  did  oppose  her  coming."  It  would  be  impossible 
to  filiate  such  imaginary  beings  that  occur  in  pageantry  on 
any  particular  ancient  poet,  except  where  their  paternity  is 
expressly  referred  to.  This  kind  of  modern  use  has  been 
nearly  exploded,  unless  in  a  few  recent  statues,  medals,  and 
works  of  fiction,  not  forgetting  Britannia,  who  continues  to 
preside  over  our  copper  coinage. 


CLIV. 

JUPITER 


Who  is  the  artist  that,  in  imitating  the  imperial  visage, 
has  surpassed  the  ivory  of  Phidias  in  Latian  marble?    Such 


220  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

is  the  aspect  of  the  universe,  such  the  look  of  the  serene 
Jupiter :  thus  he  thunders,  when  he  thunders  without  a  cloud. 
— Lib.  ix.  Ep.  xxv. 

Spence,  in  his  Polymetis,  has  pointed  out  the  distinctions  between 
the  mild  and  the  terrible  Jupiter,  adducing  the  above  epigram  as 
descriptive  of  the  former.  He  says  that  the  mild  Jupiter  was  gene- 
rally represented  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  of  white  marble;  and  he 
describes  three  kinds  of  lightning  which  were  employed  by  ancient 
sculptors  to  be  held  in  Jupiter's  hand,  according  to  the  temper  in 
which  he  was  exhibited.  Martial,  in  one  epigram,  describes  the  Thun- 
derer under  a  still  milder  form  than  in  the  imperial  visage,  his  hand 
not  holding  any  thunderbolt,  the  god  being,  as  the  poet  says,  in  love  : 
Die  mihi  quern  portas,  volucrum  regina?  Tonantem. 
Nulla  manu  quare  fulmina  gestat?  amat. 


CLV. 
MINERYA, 


(I.) 
Accept,  0  Csesar !  the  impenetrable  breastplate  of  the  war- 
like Minerva,  in  which  the  head  of  Medusa  swells  with  rage  : 
when  you  have  not  occasion  to  use  it,  people  may  call  it  a 
breastplate;  but,  when  fixed  on  thy  sacred  breast,  it  is  an 
. — Lib.  vii.  Ep.  I. 


(ii.) 
Tell  me,  fierce  virgin!  since  you  have  your  helmet  and 
your  spear,  why  you  have  not  your  segis?    Csesar  has  it. — 
Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  clxxix. 

Spence  observes,  in  his  Polymetis,  that  it  was  "  a  very  common 
thing  among  the  Romans  to  transfer  the  distinguishing  attributes  of 
their  divinities  to  the  statues  of  their  emperors :  this  species  of  flat- 
tery was  carried  by  the  old  artists  in  no  point  further  than  in  the 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  221 

gorgon  on  Minerva's  breastplate.  I  doubt  not  but  one  might  make  a 
series  of  emperors  from  Augustus  to  G-allienus,  from  the  perfection  to 
the  absolute  fall  of  the  arts  in  Rome,  with  this  attribute  of  Minerva 
on  their  breastplate."  The  head  of  Medusa  on  the  segis  is  some- 
times represented  as  a  most  beautiful,  and  at  others  a  most  horrible, 
object;  there  is  a  poem  by  Shelley  on  Leonardo  da  Yinci's  picture  of 
Medusa's  head.  There  was  a  statue  of  Minerva  in  the  capitol  without 
her  segis,  which  suggested  to  Martial  the  last  of  the  above  glozing 
epigrams.  Spence  mentions  that  he  saw,  at  Florence,  a  statue  of 
Domitian  with  an  segis  for  his  breastplate,  which,  he  observes,  was 
the  very  same  turn  of  flattery  used  by  the  artist  in  marble,  which 
is*expressed  in  words  by  Martial;  as  to  which  he  quotes  at  length 
the  above  two  epigrams.  Martial  elsewhere  calls  Minerva  Pallas 
Ccesariana;  but  he  contrives  to  have  a  sly  hit  at  her  inferiority  to 
Venus  in  their  contest  for  the  prize  of  beauty : 

Qui  pinxit  Yenerem  tuam,  Lycori, 
Blanditus,  puto,  pictor  est  Minerva?. 
"Whoever  painted  your  Yenus,  Lycoris,  must  have  been  flattering 
Minerva." 


CLVI. 

APOLLO. 


0  Apollo  !  Parthenius  makes  to  you  this  offering  of  frank- 
incense from  a  full  casket  (acerra) ;  supplicating  you,  at  the 
same  time,  that  his  child  Burrus,  who  is  now  just  completing 
his  first  lustrum,  may  fill  innumerable  olympiads.  Ratify,  we 
beseech  you,  his  parents'  vows.  So  doing,  may  you  be  beloved 
by  your  wife  (Daphne);  and  may  your  sister  (Diana)  enjoy 
undisturbed  chastity,  and  yourself  shine  in  the  flower  of  per- 
petual youth;  and  may  your  hair  be  longer  than  that  of  Bac- 
chus!— Lib.  iv.  Ep.  xlv. 

Spence  observes  that  Apollo  is  commonly  represented  as  more 
handsome  than  Mercury  and  less  effeminate  than  Bacchus  ;  bui    that, 


222 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


in  the  collections  of  ancient  statues,  one  is  apt  now  and  then  to  take 
a  Bacchus  for  an  Apollo,  both  being  characterized  by  very  long  hair, 
such  being  a  curious  method  of  typifying  perpetual  youth :  he  quotes 
from  the  above  epigram, 

Perpetuo  sic  flore  mices;  sic  denique  non  sint 
Tarn  longse  Bromio,  quam  tibi,  Phoebe,  comae. 

Augustus  had  an  affectation  of  being  compared  to  Apollo.  Mar- 
tial, it  has  been  seen,  in  an  elegy  on  Glaucia  (which  Spence  refers  to 
for  this  purpose),  speaks  of  him, 

Aut  quis  Apollineo  pulchrior  ore  fuit. 

The  acerra,  or  casket,  for  holding  frankincense,  is  shown  by 
Addison  on  the  reverse  of  a  coin  of  Faustinus;  it  is  there  placed  in 
the  hands  of  an  allegorical  figure  of  Piety :  for  the  use  of  the  acerra 
he  quotes  the  first  line  of  the  above  epigram,  Hose  tibi  pro tnato  plend 
dat  Icetus  acerra. 


CLVIL 

BACCHUS. 


(I.) 
The  satyr  loves  me  (a  calaihus,  or  drinking  cup),  Bacchus 
loves  me,  I  am  loved  by  the  drunken  tiger,  who  has  been 
taught  to  lick  the  overflowing  wine  with  which  his  master's 
feet  are  wet. — fjib.  xiv.  Ep.  cvn. 

(ii.) 
The  huntsman  of  the  Ganges  (Gangetkus),  in  flight  on  his 
swift  horse,  has  not  dreaded  so  many  tigers,  as  your  Rome 
has  recently  beheld,  to  its  inexpressible  delight.  Your  arena, 
0  Germanicus,  has  surpassed  Bacchus's  triumph  from  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  all  the  spoils  and  treasures  of  the 
conqueror  of  India :  for  when  Bacchus  led  behind  his  chariots 
the  vanquished  Indians,  he  was  content  with  a  pair  of  tigers. 
— Lib.  vin.  Ep.  xxvi. 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  223 

Spence  notices  that  "the  cantharus,  calathus,  or  scyplius,  in  the 
hands  of  Bacchus,  and  the  tiger  that  one  so  often  sees  in  one  fond 
posture  or  another,  at  the  feet  of  his  statues,  indicate  his  character 
as  being  the  god  of  wine  and  jollity."  He  refers  to  the  authority  of 
Martial,  that  the  Roman  poets  wore  ivy  crowns  in  honour  of  Bacchus 
more  frequently  than  laurel  crowns  in  honour  of  Apollo,  (as  in  the 
epigram  on  Domitian  a  Maecenas,)  and  that  Bacchus  was  next  to 
Apollo  for  the  beauty  of  his  face,  and  the  length  and  flow  of  his 
hair,  indicative  of  perpetual  youth  (as  noticed  in  the  epigram  on 
Apollo).  He  quotes,  at  length,  the  first  of  the  above  epigrams, 
(which  was  an  accompaniment  to  a  saturnalian  present  of  calathi,) 
for  Bacchus's  tiger-companion,  viz. 

Nos  Satyri,  nos  Bacchus  amat,  nos  ebria  tigris, 
Perfusos  domini  lambere  docta  pedes. 

Dryden,  in  his  Alexander  s  Feast,  alludes  to  Bacchus's  perpetual 
youth  and  beauty,  and  his  triumph : 

The  praise  of  Bacchus  then  the  sweet  musician  sung, 
Of  Bacchus  ever  fair,  and  ever  young: 
The  jolly  god  in  triumph  comes, 
Sound  the  trumpets,  beat  the  drums. 


CLVIII. 

MERCURY. 


0  Mercuey,  named  Cyllenius !  the  glory  of  heaven,  the 
eloquent  messenger,  whose  golden  wand  (caduceus)  is  tinged 
with  green  of  serpents  twisted  round  it ;  may  you  have  ever 
plenty  of  amorous  thefts,  and  your  Mother's  (Maia's)  Ides  be 
honoured  with  sacred  leaves,  and  your  grandfather  (Atlas) 
be  pressed  with  a  moderate  weight  on  his  shoulders  (of  the 
heavens),  on  condition,  that  Norbana  with  her  husband  Cams 
may  always  celebrate  in  joy  their  wedding-day.  Cams,  as 
a  pious  priest,  here  dispenses  his  gifts  of  wisdom  (of  which 


224 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


you  are  the  god),  and  here  invokes  you  with  frankincense, 
as,  like  yourself,  conspicuous  for  fidelity  to  Jupiter  (jL  e.  the 
one  to  Domitian,  the  other  to  Jove  above). — Lib.  vn.  Ep. 

LXXIII. 

Spence  quotes  the  above  epigram  in  illustration  of  Mercury's 
caduceus,  or  wand  for  conducting  departed  spirits  to  the  shades 
below.  He  observes,  that  the  descriptions  of  it  are  so  perfect  in  the 
Roman  poets,  that  one  might  instruct  a  painter  from,  them  how  to 
colour  every  part  of  it;  it  was  of  a  gold  colour,  with  two  serpents 
twined  round  it,  of  a  greenish  colour,  which  colour  was  reflected  on 
the  gold.  In  several  antiques  the  caduceus  has  wings,  which  are  not 
mentioned  by  the  poets. 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogue  on  Medals,  gives  two  reverses,  the  one 
of  Tiberius,  the  other  of  Lucius  Verus,  bearing  the  caduceus  with 
two  serpents.  He  quotes  two  lines  from  the  above  epigram,  which 
he  thus  versifies : 

Descend,  Cyllene's  tutelary  god, 

With  serpents  twining  round  thy  golden  rod. 

He  says  that  the  caduceus  stands  on  old  coins  as  an  emblem  of  peace, 
by  reason  of  its  stupifying  quality  that  has  gained  it  the  title  of 
virga  somnifera.  The  introduction  of  two  heads  of  the  Emperor's 
children  in  the  coin  of  Tiberius,  and  of  two  heads  joined  together  in 
that  of  Lucius  Verus,  may,  perhaps,  have  some  reference  to  the  male 
and  female  serpents  round  the  caduceus ;  for  the  like  reason  Mercury 
with  his  caduceus  may,  in  the  above  epigram,  have  been  specially  in- 
voked on  the  occasion  of  a  marriage. 

In  Ben  Jonson's  Masque  of  the  Penates,  Mercury  accosts  James  I. 
and  his  Queen ;  in  the  course  of  a  long  speech,  he  says,  "  The  place 
whereon  you  are  now  advanced  is  the  Arcadian  hill  Gyllene,  the  place 
where  myself  was  both  begot  and  born,  and  from  which  I  am  fre- 
quently called  Gylleniusr  Mercury  introduces  his  Mother  Maia  to 
the  King  and  Queen.  At  the  entertainment  on  the  occasion  of  the 
delivery  of  Theobalds  by  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  Mercury  announces 
to  the  Genius  of  the  House  the  impending  change :  he  descends  in  a 
flying  posture,  holding  in  his  hand  the  caduceus. 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  225 

CLIX. 

HERCULES. 

(I.) 
0  Appian  Way !  the  most  famous  of  the  ways  of  Italy, 
thou  hast  now  a  temple  consecrated  by  Cassar  therein  to  be 
venerated  under  the  semblance  of  Hercules  (Domitian  having 
erected  a  temple  on  the  Appian  Way  to  Hercules,  in  which 
he  was  himself  to  be  worshipped,  his  own  statue  represent- 
ing the  figure  of  the  demi-god).  Do  you  wish  to  know  the 
exploits  of  the  more  ancient  Hercules  ?  They  are  as  follows  : 
he  subdued  the  Libyan  giant  Antaeus ;  he  took  away  the 
golden  apples  of  the  Hesperides ;  he  ungirdled  (discinxit) 
the  Amazonian  Queen,  though  protected  by  a  shield  fastened 
with  a  Scythian  belt ;  he  slew  the  Nemaean  lion  and  the 
Arcadian  wild  boar  ;  he  dragged  from  the  woods  the  brazen- 
footed  stag,  and  the  Stymphalides  (birds  that  fed  on  human 
flesh)  from  their  lakes  ;  he  brought  with  him  the  dog  Cer- 
berus from  the  Stygian  stream  ;  he  prevented  the  Hydra 
from  renewing  its  heads  after  they  were  cut  off ;  he  dragged 
the  oxen  of  Geryon  from  Spain  to  the  Tyber  in  which  he 
washed  them.  All  these  feats  were  performed  by  the  lesser 
Hercules  ;  now  listen  to  the  achievements  of  the  greater 
Hercules,  henceforth  to  be  worshipped  near  the  sixth  milestone 
from  the  Albanian  tower  (the  eighth  from  the  city).  He,  it 
was,  who  defended  (unsuccessfully)  the  palace  when  occupied 
by  a  bad  Prince  (Vitellius) ;  whilst  a  boy  he  fought  his  first 
battle  for  his  Jove  (taking  refuge  in  the  Capitol).  When  he  had 
won  the  imperial  reins,  he  resigned  them  to  his  father,  and 
retained  only  the  third  place  in  the  empire  (after  Vespasian 
and  Titus)  ;  three  times  he  broke  the  perfidious  horns  of  the 
Sarmatian  river  Ister  (the  Danube)  ;  he  thrice  bathed  his 
sweating  steed  in  Getic  snow.  Being  often  denied  an  oppor- 
tunity of  triumphing  over  the  Parthian,  lie  brought  home 

MART.  (^ 


226  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

in  triumph  a  new  name  from  the  Hyperborean  world  (Germa- 
nicus) ;  he  gave  temples  to  the  gods,  morals  to  the  people, 
a  truce  to  swords,  stars  to  his  family  (the  temple  of  the 
Flavian  family  where  his  father,  mother,  and  wife  were 
worshipped  as  gods) ;  laurel  crowns  to  Jupiter.  The  divinity 
of  Hercules  is  not  ample  enough  for  such  great  actions ; 
instead  of  being  worshipped  under  his  image,  Caesar  would 
be  more  appropriately  represented  by  the  Tarpeian  Father 
(Jupiter). — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  civ. 

(ii.) 
Hercules  was  raised  to  the  heavens  and  the  stars,  not- 
withstanding the  resistance  of  his  stepmother  Juno,  for  his  ex- 
ploits in  subduing  the  Nemsean  lion,  and  the  Arcadian  boar, 
and  the  anointed  giant  Antaeus,  and  Eryx  laid  low  in  Sicilian 
dust,  and  Cacus,  who  fraudulently  dragged  stolen  cattle  by 
their  tails  into  his  cave.  How  small  a  part  of  your  arena, 
0  Caesar,  are  these  feats  of  Hercules !  Each  new  day  ex- 
hibits there  greater  conflicts.  How  many  lions  larger  than 
the  Nemaean  fall  there !  How  many  Maenalian  boars  does 
your  spear  transpierce !  If  the  thrice-conquered  Spanish 
shepherd  (Geryon)  should  be  restored,  you,  Caesar,  are  pre- 
pared with  one  (Corpophorus,  Speet.  xxvu.)  who  could  con- 
quer him  again.  If  the  Lernian  hydra  should  be  multiplied, 
how  can  it  be  compared  to  the  monsters  exhibited  by  you 
from  the  Nile  ?  The  gods,  0  Augustus !  gave  an  early  ad- 
mission into  heaven  for  Hercules's  deserts,  they  reserve  for 
you  a  later  apotheosis. — Lib.  v.  Ep.  lxvi. 

(in.) 
The  infant  crushes  two  snakes,  and  does  not  look  upon 
them :  already  the  Hydra  could  fear  his  tender  hands. — Lib. 
xiv.  Ep.  clxxvi. 

The  demi-god  Hercules  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  characters 
in  classical  mythology.  He  is  the  type  of  a  life  dedicated  to  active 
virtue;  his  choice  is  to  this  day  an  edifying  lesson  of  morality.     Con- 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  227 

cerning  Hercules's  labours,  SpeDce  makes  particular  reference  to  the 
above  epigrams,  distinguishing  between  the  twelve  ordinary  labours 
performed  through  the  malignity  of  Juno,  and  the  extraordinary 
labours  undertaken  of  his  own  accord.  Spence  says  that  Martial 
mentions  seven  of  the  ordinary,  and  two  of  the  extraordinary  labours ; 
Virgil  two  of  the  former,  and  six  of  the  latter;  Ovid  ten  of  the  for- 
mer, and  four  of  the  latter.  There  is  in  the  Capitoline  gallery  an 
ancient  altar  on  which  the  twelve  ordinary  labours  are  represented. 
In  the  Louvre  there  is  an  antique  statue  of  Hercules  carrying  away 
in  triumph  the  Erymathian  boar  on  one  of  his  shoulders.  In  repre- 
sentations of  the  conquest  of  the  Amazon,  Hercules  is  usually  seen  in 
the  act  of  carrying  off  her  girdle  (discinxit).  The  Stymphalides  have 
taxed  the  ingenuity  of  modern  artists,  especially  on  cameos  :  in  some 
gems  the  birds  are  left  to  the  imagination,  on  account  of  their  height, 
but  Hercules  is  seen  shooting  with  his  bow,  and  one  of  the  birds  lies 
dead  at  his  feet :  in  other  gems,  Hercules  is  represented  kneeling,  in 
order  to  allow  of  a  greater  intervening  distance. 

The  merits  which  Martial  ascribes  to  Domitian,  in  the  first 
epigram,  are  open  to  much  impeachment;  in  addition  to  those  enu- 
merated, he,  elsewhere,  mentions  Domitian's  expulsion  of  informers, 
the  restoration  of  contests  in  the  arena  with  fists  instead  of  lethal 
weapons,  and  a  cama  recta,  where  only  a  sportula  had  been  promised. 
Martial  also  extols  Domitian's  games,  but,  in  an  epigram  to  Trajan, 
he  calls  them  graves  lusus.  He  disparages  Hercules,  in  comparison 
with  Domitian,  still  more  in  his  description  of  the  female  gladiators 
and  beast-fighters : 

Prostratum  Nemees,  et  vasta  in  valle,  leonem, 
Nobile  et  Herculeum  fama  canebat  opus. 

Prisca  fides  taceat:    nam,  post  tua  tempora,  Caesar, 
Hsec  jam  foeminea  vidimus  acta  manu. 

With  respect  to  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams  on  the  subject  of 
the  infant  Hercules  killing  the  serpents,  Spence  observes,  that  "  the 
old  artists  seem  to  have  shown  a  great  deal  of  fancy  in  representing 
this  story.  As  Hercules  was  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence  so  abso- 
lutely an  infant,  they  express  his  ignorance  of  what  the  serpents 
were  very  plainly.  Sometimes  he  has  a  little  smile  on  his  face,  as 
if  he  was  pleased  with  their  fine  colours,  and  their  motions;  some- 
times he  looks  concerned  that  he  has  killed  them,  and  so  put  an  end 

Q2 


228 


MARTIAL   AND    THE   MODERNS. 


[CH. 


to  the  diversion  that  they  gave  him;  sometimes  they  show  the 
courage  and  steadiness  of  this  infant  hero  in  his  strong  gripe  of  the 
serpents,  and  in  killing  them  with  so  much  ease,  that  he  scarcely 
deigns  to  look  upon  them.  A  nurse  is  occasionally  introduced,  with 
his  twin-brother,  the  little  Eurystheus,  in  her  arms,  and  in  a  state  of 
fright.  All  these  different  ways  I  have  seen  in  gems  or  marble,  and 
I  think  there  is  not  any  one  of  them  that  the  poets  have  not  touched 
upon,  as  well  as  the  artists."  He  then  quotes  from  the  last  of  the 
above  epigrams: 

Elidit  geminos  Infans,  nee  respicit,  angues. 
Cowley,  in  his  Pindarics,  has  described  the  scene  of  the  "bold 
babe  "  and  his  "  gaily  gilded  foes." 


CLX. 

JANUS. 

(I.) 
Janus  !  although  you  give  commencements  to  the  swift 
coming  years,  and  recall,  by  your  retrospective  face,  the 
long  ages  which  are  past ;  although  you  are  supplicated  with 
frankincense  and  saluted  with  vows  ;  whilst  the  purpled  Con- 
sul (assuming  his  office  in  January)  and  Magistrates  of  every 
degree  worship  you,  yet  you  prefer  to  these  honours  the 
glory  arising  from  the  event  which  has  happened  to  this 
city,  to  have  beheld  its  returning  God  (Deum,  viz.  Trajan)  in 
your  month. — Lib.  vin.  Ep.  viii. 

(ii.) 
O  beautiful  progenitor  of  the  world  and  of  years,  the 
first  in  order  celebrated  in  public  vows  and  prayers !  Afore- 
time you  inhabited  a  small  temple,  through  which  was  a 
thoroughfare  trodden  by  a  great  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Rome.  Now,  your  threshold  is  encircled  with  imperial  gifts, 
and  you  have  as  many  faces  as  you  can  number  forums  (four). 
But  you,  sacred  Father !  in  gratitude  for  such  great  rewards, 


VI.}  MYTHOLOGY.  229 

keep  your  iron  gates  closed  with  a  perpetual  bolt.— Lib.  x. 
Ep.  xxviii. 

(in.) 
Janus,  the  author  and  parent  of  the  Roman  Fasti,  when 
he  had  just  beheld  the  conqueror  of  the  Danube,  he  thought 
that,  numerous  as  were  his  faces,  they  were  not  enough  for 
the  occasion,  and  he  wished  for  more  eyes.  Then  addressing 
the  Lord  of  the  Earth,  and  the  God  of  Nations,  he  made  the 
same  announcement  in  every  known  tongue,  viz.  promising 
the  Emperor  four  times  the  old  age  of  Nestor.  Janus  !  be  so 
propitious,  Ave  implore  you,  as  to  add  to  your  promised  term 
of  life  your  own  immortality. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  n. 

Spence,  in  his  Polymetis,  refers  to  the  above  epigrams ;  observing, 
that  the  two-faced  statues  of  Janus  indicated  his  presidency  over 
time,  as  those  with  four  faces  over  space.  He  says  that  there  are 
medals  existing  in  which  Janus  is  represented  with  four  heads;  he 
adds  that  he  saw  a  figure  of  Janus  Quadriformis  on  a  bridge  at  Rome, 
which,  from  that  circumstance,  was  called  Quatre  Capite.  The 
shutting  of  the  temple  of  Janus  alluded  to  in  the  second  epigram 
is  illustrative  of  several  passages  in  the  ancient  poets,  as  of  Roman 
history  and  customs. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  the  "  King's  entertainment  on  passing  to  his  coro- 
nation," had  prepared,  as  a  spectacle  for  King  James,  at  Temple- Bar, 
a  temple,  which,  as  an  inscription  upon  it  notified,  was  sacred  to 
quadrifrons  (four-headed)  Janus:  "which  title,"  writes  Jonson,  "is 
said  to  be  given  to  him,  as  he  representeth  all  climates  and  fills  all 
parts  of  the  world  with  his  majesty;  which  Martial  would  seem  to 
allude  unto  in  that  hendecasy liable  : 

Et  lingua  pariter  locutus  omni." 

Around  the  four  heads  of  the  figure  of  Janus  was  twined  a  wreath  of 
gold,  in  which  was  engraved  a  verse  from  Martial  slightly  varied : 

Tot  vultus  mihi  nee  satis  putavi. 
"Signifying,"  as  Ben  Jonson  writes,  "that  though  Janus  had  four 
faces,  yet  he  thought  he  had  not  enough  to  behold  the  glory  of  that 
day." 


I 


230  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 


CLXI. 

ROME. 

Rome,  the  goddess  of  regions  and  of  nations,  to  whom 
there  is  nothing  equal  or  second,  when  it  had  computed,  in  its 
joy,  the  long  series  of  years  reserved  for  the  life  of  Trajan,  and 
had  contemplated  the  bravery,  youth,  and  martial  spirit  of  so 
great  a  Prince,  spoke  thus  with  pride  inspired  by  his  presiding 
authority:  Ye  nobles  of  the  Parthians,  generals  of  the  Scy- 
thians, Thracians,  Sauromatans,  Getans,  Britons  (Britanni),  I 
am  able  to  show  you  Ca3sar :  come ! — Lib.  xu.  Ep.  viii. 

"The  Roman  poets,"  observes  Spence,  "call  Rome  the  Martial 
City,  the  Eternal  City,  the  Mistress  of  all  Cities,  the  Goddess  that 
presides  over  all  countries  and  nations."  The  globe  which  was  given 
to  personified  Rome  in  medals  was  a  significant  emblem  of  universal 
monarchy,  as  to  which  he  quotes  the  first  line  of  the  above  epigram, 

Terrarum  Dea,  gentiumque  Roma! 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogues  on  Medals,  gives  a  coin  of  the  emperor 
Trajan,  in  which  Rome  is  represented  with  a  wand  in  her  hand,  as  a 
symbol  of  her  divinity,  and  a  globe  under  her  feet,  which  betokens 
her  dominion  over  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  in  reference  to  which 
Addison  quotes  the  first  two  lines  of  the  above  epigram,  with  a 
version, 

O  Rome,  thou  goddess  of  the  earth! 

To  whom  no  rival  e'er  had  birth ; 

Nor  second  e'er  shall  rise. 

Martial,  a  Spaniard,  notices  Rome  in  a  very  pretty  way,  in  an 
epigram  to  an  absent  friend, 

Si  tibi  mens  eadem,  si  nostri  mutua  cura  est, 
In  quocunque  loco  Roma  duobus  erit ; 

and  in  another  epigram  to  his  wife,  residing  in  Spain, 

Tu  desiderium  dominse  mihi  mitius  urbis 
Esse  jubes;  Romam  tu  mihi  sola  facis. 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  ,  231 

CLXII. 

THE  RHINE. 

0  Rhine,  the  sire  of  nymphs,  and  of  all  the  rivers  that 
drink  the  northern  snows!  restore  Trajan  to  his  people,  and 
to  Rome !  on  which  condition,  may  your  waters  ever  flow  un- 
congealed;  may  no  contumelious  heifer,  dragging  a  wheeled 
vehicle,  trample  on  your  ice-bound  surface:  may  you  flow 
through  your  horns  (two  principal  channels)  all  golden  into  the 
sea,  and  may  you  be  Roman  on  both  your  banks  (cis  et  trans). 
The  dominant  Tyber  requires  this  of  you. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  vu. 

Spence,  in  his  Polymetis,  observes  that  the  Rhine  is  spoken  of 
personally  by  several  Roman  poets :  they  describe  her,  as  conquered 
by  the  Romans,  sometimes  wounded  •  at  others,  a  captive ;  at  others, 
received  into  favour  upon  submission ;  in  all  which  cases,  he  says,  "  it 
is  remarkable  that  they  never  speak  of  the  Rhine  without  putting  us 
in  mind,  at  the  same  time,  of  their  own  conquests  and  their  own 
vanity."  In  confirmation  of  these  remarks,  Spence  quotes  the  above 
epigram,  concluding  with  the  line,  Et  Romanics  eas  utrdque  ripd. 

Promises  to  rivers  of  future  prosperity  are  to  be  found  in  Milton's 
Comus,  and  Fletcher's  Faithful  Shepherdess :  the  expression  aureus  in 
the  epigram  may  be  thought  analogous  to  Milton's, 

May  thy  billows  roll  ashore 
The  beryl,  and  the  golden  ore. 


CLXIII. 
BJETIS  (THE  GUADALQUIVER). 

B^tis  !  (a  river  in  Spain,  near  the  birthplaces  of  Martial 
and  Lucan)  whose  hairs  are  encircled  with  a  chaplet  of  olive- 
leaves,  in  whose  glittering  streams  the  fleeces  of  the  neigh- 
bouring flockg  are  tinged  with  gold,  whom  Bacchus,  whom 


232         .  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Pallas  loves,  to  whom  Neptune  opens  an  egress  into  the  hoary 
seas,  may  Instantius  enter  upon  the  government  of  your 
region  under  favourable  auspices,  and  may  its  inhabitants 
enjoy  in  the  present  year  the  felicity  of  the  last!  Instantius 
is  not  ignorant  of  the  great  burden  he  undertakes  in  suc- 
ceeding so  excellent  a  predecessor  as  Marcus.  One  who  duly 
appreciates  the  responsibility  he  incurs,  is  the  more  capable 
of  sustaining  it. — Lib.  xn.  Ep.  c. 

Addison,  in  his  Dialogue  on  Medals,  adduces  a  series  of  medals 
representing  cities,  nations  and  provinces  under  the  shapes  of  women ; 
and  he  writes,  "  What  you  take  for  a  fine  lady  at  first  sight,  when 
you  come  to  look  into  her,  will  prove  a  town,  a  country,  or  one  of  the 
four  parts  of  the  world."  As  a  particular  instance,  Addison  mentions 
the  reverse  of  a  coin  of  Adrian,  representing  Spain  as  a  recumbent 
female  figure,  with  a  rabbit  at  her  feet,  and  a  branch  of  the  olive-tree 
in  her  hand;  above  the  figure  is  the  word  Hispania,  below  the  letters 
S.  C.  {senatus  consulto).  As  illustrative  of  the  type  of  the  olive,  he 
says  Martial  "  has  given  us  the  like  figure  of  one  of  the  greatest  rivers 
in  Spain: 

Bastis  oliviferd,  crinem  redimite  corona 

Aurea  qui  nitidis  vellera  tingis  aquis; 
Quern  Bromius,  quern  Pallas  amat. 

Pair  Baetis!  olives  wreath  thy  azure  locks; 
In  fleecy  gold  thou  cloth'st  the  neighb'ring  flocks ; 
Thy  fruitful  banks  with  rival  bounty  smile, 
While  Bacchus  wine  bestows,  and  Pallas  oil" 

Martial  thus  conjoins  the  waters  of  Bsetis  and  Castalia: 

Haec  meruit,   cum  te  terns,  Lucane,  dedisset, 
Mixtus  Castalia3  Bsetis  ut  esset  aquae. 

With  reference  to  the  last  line  of  the  above  epigram,  Dryden,  in 
his  Observations  on  the  Art  of  Painting,  writes,  " Qui  sua  metitur  pon- 
der a,  ferre  potest;  in  order  that  we  may  undertake  nothing  beyond 
our  forces,  we  must  endeavour  to  know  them;  on  this  prudence  our 
reputation  depends:  a  man  ought  to  cultivate  those  talents  which 
make  his  genius."     In  Comus  we  find, 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  233 

Sabrina  fair! 

Listen  where  thou  art  sitting 
Under  the  glassy,  cool,  translucent  wave, 

In  twisted  braids  of  lilies  knitting 
The  loose  train  of  thy  amber-dropping  hair. 


CLXIV. 
PRIAPUS. 


Peiapus  !  you  are  not  the  guardian  of  a  garden,  or  of  a 
fertile  vineyard,  but  of  a  grove  with  a  few  trees  out  of  which 
you  were  born,  and  may  be  born  again;  I  admonish  you  to 
keep  off  the  hands  of  thieves,  and  to  preserve  wood  for  its 
master's  fire :  if  this  should  fall  short,  remember  that  you  are 
wood. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xl. 

Voltaire,  in  an  article  entitled  Idoldtrie,  cites  the  above  epigram, 
with  another  not  so  pertinent  which  he  renders,  "  L' artisan  ne  peut 
faire  des  Dieux,  c'est  celui  qui  les  prie,"  together  with  other  passages 
from  the  ancient  poets,  observing,  "on  ferait  volumes  de  toutes  les 
passages,  qui  deposent  que  des  images  n'etaient  que  des  images."  He 
concludes,  "Les  Grecs  et  les  Romains  6taient  des  gentils,  des  poly- 
theistes,  et  n'etaient  point  des  idolatres." 

Martial  would  probably  have  reckoned  Priapus  among  the  plebeian 
gods  with  whom  Jupiter  condescended  to  sup  after  his  victory  over 
the  giants. 

Qua  bonus  accubuit  Genitor  cum  plebe  Deorum, 
Et  licuit  Faunis  poscere  vina  Jovem. 

The  above  epigram  is  thus  translated  by  George  Lamb  in  the 
notes  to  his  Catullus: 

Priapus,  thou  the  placed  defence 

Of  no  fair  garden  or  rich  vine; 
But  of  this  thin  plantation,  whence 

Thou'rt  sprung,  and  may'st  prolong  thy  line. 


234  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 

I  warn  thee  from  all  theft  protect, 

And  save  this  strong  and  growing  brood 

To  serve  my  hearth.     Should'st  thou  neglect, 
I'll  make  thee  know  thyself  art  wood. 


[CH. 


CLXV. 

SACBIFICES. 


Do  you  wonder,  Severas !  that  I  send  you  verses,  and  ask 
you  to  supper?  Jupiter  is  satiated  with  ambrosia  and  lives 
upon  nectar,  yet  we  give  to  him  victims,  and  frankincense,  and 
wine.  Since  the  gods  have  bestowed  on  you  every  imaginable 
possession,  if  you  will  not  have  any  thing  you  have  already, 
what  will  you  accept? — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  lyiii. 

Dr  Malkin,  in  his  Classical  Disquisitions,  observes  that  Martial's 
allusion  to  the  meat  and  drink  of  the  gods,  and  their  acceptance 
of  more  humble  fare  in  their  sacrifices,  is  "in  the  true  spirit  of 
epigram." 

In  another  epigram  of  Martial  there  are  some  expressions  about 
the  sacrifice  of  a  goat,  which  afford  a  case  of  suspicion  that  they  may 
have  furnished  materials  to  Prynne's  celebrated  Stigmata  Laudis, 
written  upon  his  return  to  prison  after  being  branded  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Archbishop  Laud.     Martial's  lines  are, 

Vite  nocens  rosa  stabat  moriturus  ad  aras 
Hircus,  Bacche,  tuis  victima  grata  sacris. 
Quern  Tuscus  mactare  Deo  cum  vellet  haruspex. 

Prynne's  distich,  called  his  Stigmata  Laudis,  is, 

Stigmata  maxillis  referens  insignia  Laudis, 
Exultans  remeo  victima  grata  Deo. 


VI.]  MYTHOLOGY.  235 

CLXVI. 

BANKRUPTCY  IN  OLYMPUS. 

If  you,  0  Caesar,  should  assume  the  rights  of  a  creditor, 
and  call  in  all  you  haYe  bestowed  on  heaven,  though  there 
were  a  public  sale  in  Olympus,  and  the  gods  were  compelled 
to  part  with  every  thing  they  possessed,  Atlas,  who  sustains  the 
skies,  would  be  obliged  to  make  his  load  over  to  you,  and  there 
would  not  be  an  ounce  in  the  As  with  which  Jupiter  could 
compound  for  your  claims.  What  equivalent,  indeed,  could  be 
given  for  the  restored  Capitol?  What  for  the  laurel  of  the 
games  of  Tarpeian  Jove  instituted  by  you?  What  could  Juno 
pay  for  her  two  temples  which  you  have  erected?  I  pass  by 
Minerva,  for  that  goddess  may  plead  in  exemption  of  payment 
that  she  is  always  labouring  in  your  service.  Why  should  I 
make  mention  of  Hercules,  Apollo,  Castor  and  Pollux?  why 
of  the  Flavian  temples  added  to  the  Latian  sky?  You  must 
give  the  gods  time  for  payment,  O  Augustus,  and  suspend 
your  claim ;  for,  to  pay  you  forthwith,  there  is  not  enough  hi 
the  whole  treasury  of  Jove. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  iv. 

Gibbon,  in  his  history,  has  the  following  note  on  a  passage  in 
which  he  mentions  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  Capitol  of  Rome : 
"  The  new  Capitol  was  dedicated  by  Domitian :  the  gilding  alone  cost 
12,000  talents  (about  two  millions  and  a  half).  It  was  the  opinion 
of  Martial  that  if  the  emperor  had  called  in  his  debts,  Jupiter  himself, 
even  though  he  had  made  a  general  auction  of  Olympus,  would  have 
been  unable  to  pay  two  shillings  in  the  pound." 

In  an  adulatory  epigram,  addressed  to  Trajan  on  the  occasion  of 
his  having  dedicated  to  Jupiter  the  drinking  cups  of  Domitian,  Mar- 
tial cries  shame  on  his  benefactor  to  Olympus  for  having  kept  Jove  in 
indigence,  so  as  to  have  the  balance  of  account  on  his  side : 

Omnes  cum  Jove  nunc  sumus  beati, 
At,  nuper,  pudet,  at  pudet  fateri, 
Omnes  cum  Jove  pauperes  cramus. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  epigrams  of  Martial  which  have  been  arranged  under 
the  head  of  Topography,  contain  some  pleasing  descriptions 
of  ancient  scenery  and  edifices.  Part  of  the  objects  described 
remains  in  its  ancient  grandeur  or  beauty ;  several  are  to  be 
found  in  ruins ;  and  many  have  been  effaced  by  the  con- 
vulsions of  nature.  An  insight  is  given  into  the  amenities  of 
villa-life  among  the  Romans,  which  exhibits  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal features  of  ancient  luxury  and  refinement  as  it  is  por- 
trayed by  an  intelligent  eye-witness. 

With  regard  to  the  modern  uses  of  epigrams  of  this  class, 
Addison,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Travels  in  Italy,  observes, 
"  I  have  taken  care  particularly  to  consider  the  several  pas- 
sages of  the  ancient  poets  which  have  any  relation  to  the 
places  or  curiosities  I  met  with.  It  was  not  one  of  the  least 
entertainments  I  met  with  in  travelling,  to  examine  these 
several  descriptions,  as  it  were,  upon  the  spot,  and  to  com- 
pare the  natural  face  of  the  country  with  the  landscapes 
which  the  poets  have  given  us  of  it."  Eustace's  Classical 
Tour  in  Italy  is  conducted  very  much  after  the  model  of 
Addison's  Travels.  It  will  be  found  that,  in  both  these 
esteemed  works,  Martial  has  contributed  his  share,  with  other 
authors,  towards  their  embellishment. 

There  is  another  modern  use  to  which  epigrams  falling 
under  the  present  head  have  been  applied,  which  is  strictly 


CH.  VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  237 

topographical.  It  will  be  found  in  Canina's  work,  (recently 
translated  by  Mr  Whiteside,)  that  there  are  at  least  a  dozen 
passages  of  Martial  which  are  used  by  that  celebrated  anti- 
quary, to  identify  the  sites  of  ancient  forums,  streets,  temples, 
porticos  and  other  public  places  or  edifices  at  Rome.  This 
kind  of  use  of  Martial  must  be  highly  interesting  to  any 
visitant  to  the  Eternal  City  (so  Canina's  book  is  called),  but 
it  can  only  be  briefly  adverted  to  consistently  with  the  scope 
of  the  present  work,  as  it  does  not  often  afford  matter  of 
general  interest. 


CLXVII. 

VESUVIUS. 


Yonder  is  Vesuvius,  lately  verdant  with  the  shadowy 
vines ;  there  a  noble  grape  under  pressure  yielded  copious 
lakes  of  wine ;  that  hill  Bacchus  preferred  to  the  hills  of 
Nysa  ;  there  lately  the  Satyrs  led  their  dances  ;  there  Venus 
had  a  residence  more  agreeable  to  her  than  Lacedsemon ; 
that  spot  was  made  illustrious  by  the  name  of  Hercules. 
Now,  every  thing  is  laid  low  by  flames,  and  is  buried  under 
the  sad  ashes.  Surely  the  Gods  must  regret  that  they  pos- 
sessed so  much  power  for  mischief. — Lib.  IV.  Ep.  xliv. 

Addison,  in  his  Travels  in  Italy,  gives  the  following  poetical 
version  of  the  epigram : 

Vesuvio,  cover' d  with  the  fruitful  vine, 

Here  flourish'd  once,  and  ran  with  floods  of  wine. 

Here  Bacchus  oft  to  the  cool  shades  retir'd, 

And  his  own  native  Nisa  less  admir'd: 

Oft  to  the  mountain's  airy  tops  advanc'd, 

The  frisking  Satyrs  on  the  summits  danc'd, 


238 


MARTIAL    AND   THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


Alcides  here,  here  Venus  grac'd  the  shore, 

Nor  lov'd  her  favourite  Lacedsemon  more! 

Now  piles  of  ashes,  spreading  all  around 

In  undistinguish'd  heaps,  deform  the  ground. 

The  gods  themselves  the  ruin'd  seats  bemoan; 

And  blame  the  mischiefs  that  themselves  have  done. 

Perhaps  the  last  line  of  the  epigram: 

Nee  superi  vellent  hoc  licuisse  sibi, 

which  Addison  translates,  "  And  blame  the  mischiefs  that  themselves 
have  done,"  has  more  point  than  he  attributes  to  it;  it  probably 
referred  to  a  famous  saying  of  Nero,  to  which  Martial  frequently 
alludes,  that  no  Emperor  before  himself  had  been  aware  of  the  extent 
of  his  own  power  {quantum  sibi  liceret);  thus,  in  an  epigram  on 
Lucian's  birth-day,  Martial  writes  : 

Heu!  Nero  crudelis,  nullaque  invisior  umbra, 
Debuit  hoc  saltern  non  licuisse  tibi. 

Addison  observes,  that  "the  prospect  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  ac- 
cording to  Tacitus,  was  more  agreeable  before  the  burning  of  Yesuvio; 
that  mountain,  probably,  which,  after  the  first  eruption,  looked  like 
a  great  pile  of  ashes,  was,  in  Tiberius's  time,  shaded  with  woods  and 
vineyards :  for  I  think  Martial's  epigram  may  here  serve  as  a  com- 
ment to  Tacitus."  The  epigram  may  also  afford  an  illustration  of 
Statius's  invitation  of  his  wife  to  Naples. 

Rogers,  in  a  note  to  his  poem  on  Italy,  in  adverting  to  the  death 
of  the  elder  Pliny  owing  to  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  Pompeii,  observes,  in  conformity  with  Martial's  description,  to 
which  he  expressly  refers,  "In  the  morning  of  that  day  Vesuvius  was 
covered  with  the  most  luxurious  vegetation;  every  elm  had  its  vine, 
every  vine  (for  it  was  in  the  month  of  August)  its  clusters."  And 
so  Sir  Edward  Lytton,  in  his  Last  Bays  of  Pompeii,  takes  two  of  his 
characters,  a  short  time  before  the  catastrophe  of  that  city,  a  drive  on 
Mount  Vesuvius,  where,  as  he  describes,  "  the  grapes,  already  purple 
with  the  smiles  of  the  deepening  summer,  glowed  out  from  the  arched 
festoons  which  hung  pendant  from  tree  to  tree." 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  239 

CLXVIII. 
BAI.E. 

(I.) 
Baije,  the  golden  shore  of  blissful  Venus  !  the  bland  gift 
of  superb  nature  !  If  I  were  to  sing  the  praises  of  Baiso  in 
a  thousand  verses,  I  should  fall  short  of  adequately  praising 
Baiee.  But  I  prefer  the  company  of  my  friend  Martialis  even 
to  Baise.  It  were  too  exorbitant  a  prayer  to  beg  for  both  at 
the  same  time  :  but,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  gods  to  confer 
this  double  blessing  upon  me,  how  happy  should  I  be  with 
Martialis  and  Baise. — Lib.  xi.  Ep.  lxxxi. 

(ii.) 
Whilst  you  indulge  in  the  enjoyment  of  happy  Baise, 
and  swim  in  its  waters  whitened  with  sulphur,  my  con- 
valescence is  improved  by  residence  at  my  Nomentanian  farm, 
in  a  house  not  disproportionate  to  the  moderate  size  of  my 
estate.  Here  are  my  Baian  Suns  {Baiani  Soles)  and  the 
soft  air  of  the  Lucrine  lake  (mollis  I/ucrintis) :  here  is  my 
equivalent  for  your  wealth.  Time  was,  that  I  would  have 
hastened  from  any  part  of  the  world,  to  baths  of  repute ; 
I  never  feared  the  length  of  way.  But  now,  I  delight  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  city,  and  in  a  place  of  retire- 
ment which  is  easy  of  access.  It  is  enough  for  me,  if  I  am 
allowed  to  be  idle. — I/lb.  VI.  Ep.  xliii. 

(in.) 
L^evina  who,  in  point  of  modesty,  yielded  not  to  the 
ancient  Sabine  wives,  and  who  looked  more  doleful  even 
than  her  care-worn  husband,  whilst  now  she  trusts  herself 
on  the  Lucrine  lake,  now  on  the  Avernus,  and  is  often 
warmed  by  the  Baian  waters,  is  caught  by  a  flame.    She 


240  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

deserts  her  husband,  and  elopes  with  a  stripling ;  she  came 
to  Baiae  a  Penelope,  she  returned  a  Helen. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  lxiii. 

Eustace  writes  concerning  the  temple  of  Venus,  which  he  sup- 
poses to  have  been  situated  on  a  projection  of  the  shore  between  the 
Lucrine  lake  and  Baise,  and  where  there  stands  at  present  an  edifice 
called  Templo  di  Venere,  that,  "  no  situation  is  more  appropriate  to 
the  temple  of  such  a  presiding  divinity  than  this  little  promontory, 
whose  jutting  point  commands  the  whole  bay,  with  all  its  scenery 
of  hills,  towns,  lakes  and  villas."     He  then  quotes  from  the  above 

epigram : 

Littus  beatse  aureum  Veneris! 

Baise,  superbse  blanda  dona  naturae! 
which  is  rendered: 

Land  of  Venus!    golden  coast! 

Nature's  fairest  gift  and  boast, 

Happy  Baise! 
Becker  has  made  use  of  all  the  above  epigrams  in  his  Gallus.  He 
refers  to  the  first  for  an  eulogy  on  Baise;  to  the  second,  as  an 
authority  that  the  warm  springs  of  Baise  were  of  a  muddy  whiteness; 
and  to  the  third,  as  showing  that  parties  of  pleasure  used  to  be  made 
on  the  Lucrine  lake,  and  for  the  expression  mollis  Lucrinus.  Upon 
the  strength  of  this  last  epigram  Becker  makes  Lycoris  and  Gallus 
take  an  excursion  on  the  tranquil  mirror  of  the  Lucrine  lake  in  a 
decorated  galley,  with  purple  sails  :  on  their  excursion,  they  catch 
and  eat  Lucrine  oysters,  which  Martial  and  other  authors  strongly 
recommend :  he  refers  also  to  this  epigram  in  proof  of  the  prevalent 
Helen-like  morals  at  Baise. 

As  to  the  Baian  Helen,  Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  Growth 
in  Sin,  observes,  that  "Lsevina,  who  was  chaster  than  the  elder 
Sabines,  and  severer  than  her  philosophical  guardian,  was  well  in- 
structed in  the  great  lines  of  honour,  and  of  cold  justice  to  her 
husband:  but,  when  she  gave  way  to  the  wanton  ointments  and 
looser  circumstances  of  Baise,  and  bathed  often  in  Avernus,  and 
thence  hurried  to  the  companies  and  dressings  of  Lucrinus,  she 
quenched  her  honour,  and  gave  her  body  and  her  virtue  as  a  spoil 
to  the  follies  and  intemperance  of  a  young  gentleman." 

Martial  has  an  epigram  expressing  an  entirely  Roman  notion  of 
the  Baian  baths : 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  241 

Dat  Baiana  mihi  quadrantes  sportula  centum: 

Inter  delicias  quid  facit  ilia  fames? 
Redde  Lupi  nobis,  tenebrosaque  balnea  G-rylli; 

Tarn  male  cum  coenem,  cur  bene,  Macce,  lavor? 

Anstey  took  for  the  motto  of  bis  Bath  Guide  the  passage,  nullus 
in  orbe  locus  (sinus,  orig.)  Baiis  prcelucet  amcenis. 


CLXIX. 
BAIJ&   AND   TIBUR 


Whilst  I  am  detained  in  the  enervating  region  of  the 
Lucrine  lake,  amid  caves  of  pumice,  through  which  tepid 
fountains  exude,  you,  Faustinus,  indulge  in  the  delights  of 
Tivoli,  near  to  the  twentieth  mile-stone  from  Rome.  It  is, 
indeed,  now,  the  fervid  season  of  the  constellation  Leo,  which 
imparts  to  Baise  a  heat  greater  than  what  is  ordinary  even 
in  that  hot  place.  Therefore,  ye  consecrated  fountains,  and 
holy  sea-shores,  the  abodes  of  Nymphs  and  Nereids,  farewell ! 
In  frosty  winter  you  are  to  be  preferred  to  the  hills  of  Tivoli, 
but,  at  this  season,  you  must  yield  to  it,  in  point  of  coolness. 
— Lib.  iv.  Ep.  lvii. 

The  above  epigram  is  thus  translated  by  Addison: 
While  near  the  Lucrine  lake,  consum'd  to  death, 
I  draw  the  sultry  air  and  gasp  for  breath, 
Where  steams  of  sulphur  raise  a  stifling  heat, 
And  through  the  pores  of  the  warm  pumice  sweat; 
You  taste  the  cooling  breeze,  where,  nearer  home, 
The  twentieth  pillar  marks  the  miles  from  Rome: 
And  now  the  Sun  to  the  bright  Lion  turns, 
And  Baiae  with  redoubled  fury  burns. 
Then  briny  seas,  and  tasteful  springs  farewell! 
Where  fountain-nymphs  compared  with  Nereids  dwell; 
In  winter  you  may  all  the  world  despise, 
But  now  'tis  Tivoli  that  bears  the  prize. 
mart.  R 


242 


MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS. 


[CH. 


Addison  observes  concerning  this  epigram,  that  "Baise  was  the 
winter-retreat  of  the  old  Romans,  this  being  the  proper  season  to 
enjoy  the  Baiani  Soles,  and  the  Mollis  Lucrinus;  as,  on  the  contrary, 
Tibur  (Tivoli),  Tusculum,  Preneste,  Alba,  Cajetta,  Mons  Circaeus, 
Anxur,  and  the  like  airy  mountains  and  promontories  were  their 
retirements  during  the  heats  of  summer."  The  aspect  of  the  Lucrine 
lake  was  much  altered  by  an  earthquake  in  1583. 

Warm  springs,  Addison  mentions,  abound  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Baise,  and  that  there  is  scarcely  a  disease  which  has  not  a  bath 
adapted  to  it.  One  bath  was  still  shown  to  travellers  as  that  of 
Cicero,  and  the  same  which  was  celebrated  by  his  grateful  freedman, 
as  being  good  for  the  eyesight,  which  the  universal  reading  of  Cicero's 
works  made  the  eyes  of  mankind  stand  in  need  of : 

Ut,  quoniam  totum  legitur  sine  fine  per  orbem, 
Sint  plures,  oculis  quae  medeantur,  aquae. 

On  the  other  hand,  most  of  the  cool  retreats  of  the  ancient 
Romans  are  now,  in  summer,  Eustace  says,  deserted,  on  account 
of  malaria. 


CLXX. 


TIBUR   (TIVOLI). 

We  may  all  resort,  at  the  summer  solstice,  to  the  warmest 
spots  of  Italy,  to  Ardea,  Psestum,  and  Baise,  fervid  with  the 
heat  of  the  constellation  Leo,  since  Curiatus  condemned  the 
air  of  Tivoli,  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  being  transported 
from  its  extolled  waters  to  those  of  the  Styx.  Fate  is  not 
to  be  diverted  by  localities :  when  death  comes,  the  pestilent 
Sardinia  is  to  be  found  in  the  middle  of  the  healthy  Tivoli. — 
Lib.  iv.  Ep.  lx. 

Ben  Jonson,  in  an  elegy  on  Sir  John  Roe,  after  enumerating 
foreign  perils  which  he  had  escaped,  concludes: 

Which  shows,  wherever  death  doth  please  t' appear, 
Seas,  serenes,  swords,  shot,  sickness,  all  are  there. 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  243 

The  following  French  epigram  is  founded  on  a  similar  turn  of 
thought  with  the  preceding;  the  expression  being  closer  to  that  of 
another  epigram  of  Martial,  concerning  a  dark  lady,  who  was  sent 
to  Tibur  to  be  made  fair,  the  poet  asks,  with  what  result?  She 
returned  dark  as  she  went: 

L'asthmatique  Damon  a  cru  que  l'air  des  champs 

Kepareroit  en  lui  le  ravage  des  ans. 

II  s'est  fuit,  a  grands  frais,  transporter  en  Bretagne, 

Or,  voyez  ce  qua  fait  l'air  natal  qu'il  a  pris ! 

Damon  seroit  mort  a  Paris: 

Damon  est  mort  a  la  campagne. 

Catullus  thought  that  the  locality  of  Tibur  was  medicinal ;  for  he 
wrote  a  letter  of  thanks  to  his  Tiburtine  villa,  for  recruiting  his 
health  after  catching  a  bad  cold  at  a  tedious  recitation  in  Rome ;  and 
Maecenas  was  sent  to  Tivoli  by  his  physician,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
sound  of  falling  water. 


CLXXI. 

ANXUR   (TERRACINA). 


(I.) 
Now  the  constellation  of  Taurus  (April)  looks  back  on 
the  Ram  (March),  and  winter  flies  from  the  Gemini  (May), 
the  country  smiles,  the  ground  is  covered  with  grass  and 
flowers,  the  trees  with  leaves,  the  Attic  nightingale  laments 
for  Itys: — At  this  season,  Faustinus,  what  days  does  Rome 
deprive  you  of!  0  ye  suns,  and  thou  quietude  from 
business  (tunicata  quies),  0  grove,  and  fountains,  and  un- 
sinking  shore  of  moistened  sand,  with  splendid  (splenclidus) 
Anxur  shining  above  the  sea,  and  a  couch  commanding  a 
view  both  of  a  river  and  the  ocean  with  their  ships !  But 
there  is  not  to  be  seen  at  Anxur  a  theatre  of  Marcellus,  nor 
one  of  Pompey,  nor  three  thermce  (public  warm-baths),  nor 


244  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

four  forums,  nor  the  lofty  temple  of  Capitoline  Jupiter,  nor 
that  of  the  Flavian  family  shining  in  close  proximity  to  the 
heavens.  How  often  do  I  imagine  you,  in  your  moments  of 
fatigue,  to  say  to  Quirinus  (founder  of  Rome),  Keep  what  is 
your  own,  give  me  back  what  is  mine  (inuendo,  why  do  you 
stay  at  Rome  during  this  season,  instead  of  repairing  to  your 
villa  at  Anxur,  where  you  may  give  back  to  Romulus  his 
fine  edifices,  throw  off  your  toga,  and  wear  only  your  tunic), 
—Lib.  x.  Ep.  li. 

(ii.) 

Whilst  I  devoted  myself  to  the  agreeable  recesses  of 
Anxur,  and  the  neighbouring  Baia3,  and  a  dwelling-house  on 
the  sea-shore  (litoream  domum),  and  the  fresh-water  lakes, 
and  the  groves,  in  which  inharmonious  grasshoppers  never 
sing  during  the  season  of  Cancer  (July),  I  then  had  leisure, 
along  with  you,  Frontinus,  to  cultivate  the  learned  Muses. 
Now  great  Rome  wears  me  out.  Here,  where  I  feed  on  the 
produce  of  suburban  fields,  and  place  my  lares  near  yours, 
sacred  Romulus !  when  have  I  day  of  my  own  ?  I  am  tossed 
to  and  fro  by  the  waves  of  the  city ;  and  my  life  is  wasted 
in  profitless  toil.  Love  is  not  testified  solely  by  frequenting 
the  mansions  of  the  rich  by  day  and  by  night ;  nor  is  such 
an  occupation  worthy  of  a  poet.  I  swear  by  the  sacred 
Muses,  and  all  the  divinities  of  heaven,  that  I  love  thee, 
Frontinus,  not  the  less,  because  my  present  distance  from 
you  (of  Rome  from  Anxur)  disables  me  from  displaying  my 
attachment  by  officious  salutations. — Lib.  x.  Ep.  lviii. 

Addison,  in  his  Travels  in  Italy,  has  thus  translated  part  of  the 
first  of  the  above  epigrams : 

Ye  warbling  fountains  and  ye  shady  trees, 

Where  Anxur  feels  the  cool  refreshing  breeze 

Blown  off  the  sea,  and  all  the  dewy  strand 

Lies  cover'd  with  a  smooth  un sinking  (solidum)  sand! 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  245 

He  observes  that  "  the  ruins  of  Anxur  mark  out  the  pleasant  situa- 
tion in  which  that  town  formerly  stood;  it  was  planted  on  the 
mountain  where  we  now  see  Terracina,  and  by  reason  of  the  breezes 
that  came  off  the  sea,  and  the  height  of  its  situation,  was  one  of  the 
summer  retirements  of  the  ancient  Romans." 

The  first  part  of  the  last  of  the  above  epigrams  is  thus  rendered 
by  Addison;  among  the  numerous  reasons  that  have  been  assigned 
for  the  singular  conduct  of  the  grasshoppers,  he  alone  has  ascribed  it  to 
the  untainted  air;  his  cool  shore  may  appear  not  to  express  Martial's 
litoream  domum,  which  seems  to  have  reference  to  those  structures 
that,  Horace  says,  made  the  fishes  think  that  the  sea  was  growing  too 
small  for  them,  and  the  ruins  of  which  are  now  rowed  over,  as  de- 
scribed by  Rogers,  in  his  Italy. 

On  the  cool  shore,  near  Baia's  gentle  seats, 

I  lay  retired  in  Anxur's  soft  retreats; 

Whose  silver  lakes,  with  verdant  shadows  crown'd, 

Disperse  a  grateful  dullness  all  around. 

The  grasshopper  avoids  the  untainted  air, 

Nor,  in  the  heat  of  summer,  ventures  there. 

Eustace  makes  the  following  allusions  to  the  ancient  town  of  Anxur: 
"  The  rocky  eminence  of  Anxur  now  rose  full  before  us,  and,  as  we 
approached,  presented  to  our  view  a  variety  of  steep  cliffs.  On  the 
side  of  one  of  these  craggy  hills  stands  the  old  town  of  Terracina;  the 
new  town  descends  gradually  towards  the  beach  and  lines  the  shore. 
On  the  ridge  of  the  mountain  stood  the  ancient  Anxur,  and  on  the 
summit,  immediately  over  the  sea,  rose  the  temple  of  Jupiter  {Jupiter 
Anxuris).  On  this  pinnacle  still  remain  two  vast  squares,  consisting 
each  of  a  number  of  arches,  and  forming,  probably,  the  substructure 
of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  and  that  of  A  polio.  The  colonnades  of  these 
two  temples,  the  colour  of  the  rock  which  supported  them,  and  the 
lofty  walls  and  towers  of  the  city  which  enclosed  them  and  crowned 
the  cliff,  gave  Anxur  the  splendour  and  majesty  so  often  alluded  to  by 
the  poets."  He  has  thus  translated  the  lines  on  the  double  prospect 
of  sea  and  river,  Qui  videt  hinc  puppes  Jluminis,  inde  maris  : 

Ye  groves,  ye  fountains,  and  thou  sea-washed  strand, 
And  Anxur  glittering  in  the  glassy  tide, 

Whence  the  tall  barks  are  viewed  on  either  hand, 
Or  on  the  salt  sea's  wave,  or  river  smooth  that  glide. 


246 


MARTIAL   AND   THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


CLXXII. 

NARNI   (NARNIA). 

Narnia  !  situate  on  an  almost  inaccessible  hill,  and  en- 
circled by  a  white  river  fed  from  sulphurous  streams,  why 
does  it  delight  you  so  often  and  so  long  to  detain  from  me 
my  friend  Quinctus ;  whereby,  through  the  loss  of  such  a 
neighbour,  my  Nomentanian  villa  is  of  no  service  to  me,  its 
value  consisting  in  the  society  of  my  friend?  But,  now,  at 
length,  spare  Quinctus  to  me,  nor  abuse  your  possession 
of  him:  so  may  you  never  be  deprived  of  the  enjoyment 
of  your  bridge  ! — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xcn. 

Addison,  in  describing  Rami  (which  is  situated  on  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Narnia),  mentions  Augustus's  bridge,  that  stands  half  a  mile 
from  the  town,  and  which,  he  says,  is  one  of  the  stateliest  ruins  in 
Italy ;  he  notices  that  there  was,  when  he  visited  the  spot,  an  arch 
unbroken,  the  broadest  he  had  ever  seen.  He  considers  that,  "  with- 
out doubt,  these  ruins  belonged  to  the  bridge  of  Narni,  which  Martial 
mentions."  Of  the  concluding  couplet  of  Martial's  epigram,  Addison 
gives  the  following  version,  with  an  indifferent  rhyme : 

Preserve  my  better  part,  and  spare  my  friend, 
So,  Narni,  may  thy  bridge  for  ever  stand! 

Eustace,  in  his  description  of  Narni,  writes,  "  The  ancient  Roman 
Colony  of  Narni  stands  on  the  summit  of  a  very  high  and  steep  hill, 
whose  sides  are  clothed  with  olives,  and  whose  base  is  washed  by  the 
Nera  (anciently  Nar),  of  a  milky  colour.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  we 
alighted,  in  order  to  visit  the  celebrated  bridge  of  Augustus:  this 
noble  row  of  arches  thrown  over  the  stream  and  the  defile  in  which 
it  rolls,  in  order  to  open  a  communication  between  the  two  moun- 
tains, and  to  facilitate  the  approach  to  the  town,  was  formed  of  vast 
blocks  of  white  stone  fitted  together  without  cement.  All  the  piers 
and  one  arch  still  remain;  the  other  arches  are  fallen,  and  their  fall 
seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  sinking  of  the  middle  pier." 
Eustace  cites  a  passage  from  Claudian  illustrative  of,  what  Martial 
notices,  the  peculiar  colour  of  the  river,  which  is  thus  translated : 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  247 

Hard  by  a  river  of  unwonted  hue, 

From  which  her  name  th'  adjacent  city  drew, 

Beneath  a  shady  forest  flows;    confin'd 

By  wood-crown'd  hills,  its  whitening  waters  wind. 

Lord  Coke  says  that  Tadcaster  contains  nothing  worthy  of  the 
Muses,  except  its  bridge.     England  is  thus  anciently  described, 

Anglia,  mons,  fons,  pons,  ecclesia,  foemina,  lana. 


CLXXIII. 

KAVENNA. 

(I.) 
A  cunning  vintner  at  Ravenna  lately  cheated  me;  when 
I  asked  for  wine  and  water,  he  sold  me  sheer  wine. — Lib.  in. 

Ep.  LVII. 

(ii.) 

I  would  rather  have  a  cistern  than  a  vineyard  at  Ravenna; 
water  is  so  much  dearer  there  than  wine. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  lvi. 

(in.) 
The  soft  asparagus  which  grows  at  the  maritime  (cequorea) 
Ravenna  is  not  more  pleasant  to  the  taste  than  the  bundle 
of  wild  asparagus  herewith  presented. — Lib.  xin.  Ep.  xxi. 
Addison,  in  his  Travels  in  Italy,  translates  the  first  epigram  thus : 
By  a  Ravenna  vintner  once  betray'd, 
So  much  for  wine  and  water  mix'd  I  paid; 
But  when  I  thought  the  purchas'd  liquor  mine, 
The  rascal  fobb'd  me  off  with  only  wine. 
And  the  second  epigram  thus : 

Lodg'd  at  Ravenna  (water  sells  so  dear), 
A  cistern  to  a  vineyard  I  prefer. 
He  observes  that  fountain-water  was  still  very  scarce  at  Ravenim, 
and  that  it  was  probably  much  more  so  when  the  sea  was  within  its 
neighbourhood :  it  was,  when  he  travelled,  four  miles  from  the  Adri- 
atic, but  had  been  formerly  the  most  famous  of  all  the  Roman  ports. 


248  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

With  regard  to  the  third  epigram,  Rabelais  makes  one  of  his 
characters  tell  another  that,  by  certain  quackeries,  he  would  engage 
to  produce  the  best  asparagus  in  the  world,  not  even  excepting  that 
of  Ravenna.  Dr  Malkin,  in  reference  to  this  epigram,  observes  that 
Pliny  mentions,  in  more  passages  than  one,  the  pleasantness  and  pro- 
lific character  of  the  gardens  of  Ravenna. 


CLXXIV. 

FORMIC  (MOLA). 


0  sweet  shore  of  temperate  Formise !    Apollinaris,  when 
he  is  able  to  fly  from  the  city  of  ruthless  Mars,  and  can  lay 
aside  his  wearisome  cares,  prefers  you  to  every  spot  on  earth. 
Tibur,  Tusculum,  Algidum,  Prseneste,  Antium,  the  promontory 
of  Gaeta,  the  grove  of  Lsenis,  the  river  Liris,  Salmacis  near 
the  Lucrine  lake,  are  summer-retreats  extolled  by  many ;  but 
Apollinaris  prefers  Formise  to  them  all.    Here  the  seaa  is  not 
tossed  by  storms,  but  its  surface  is  placidly  rippled  by  the 
zephyrs.     The  air,  however,  is  not  so  languid,  but  that  it 
gently  wafts  the  painted  galleys :  it  may  be  compared  to  that 
raised  by  the  fan  of  a  damsel  seeking  to  create  an  artificial 
coolness  in  the  heat  of  the  day.    Do  you  wish  to  enjoy  the 
amusement  of  fishing,  you  are  not  obliged  to  put  out  to  sea, 
but,  whilst  you  recline  on  your  couch,  you  may  watch  the 
fishes  to  a  great  depth  as  they  drag  your  line.    If  ever 
a  storm,  though  rare,  be  raised,  you  have  a  fish-pond,  which 
may  mock  it,  whilst  from  a  table  of  its  own  it  supplies  you 
with  turbot  and  pike :  delicate  lampreys  swim  to  their  mas- 
ter ;  a  nomenclator  cites  your  familiar  mullets  to  appear,  and 
they  obediently  answer  his  summons.    But  how  rarely  does 
Rome  allow  of  such  enjoyments!     How  few  Formian  days  can 
any  one  immersed  in  the  business  of  the  city  promise  himself! 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  249 

Happy  vine-dressers,  and  country  stewards !  these  rural  luxu- 
ries are  prepared  for  your  masters;  they  wait  upon  you. — 
Lib.  x.  Ep.  xxx. 

The  above  description  of  a  villa  at  Formise  (which  is  illustrative 
of  Pliny's  and  Statius's  descriptions  of  Roman  villas)  is  rendered  the 
more  interesting  to  modern  readers  from  the  circumstance  that  Cicero 
was  assassinated  in  the  walks  of  a  grove  when  attempting  to  escape 
to  the  sea  from  his  Formian  villa.     Eustace  visited  the  reputed  ruins 
of  this  villa,  which,  agreeably  to  several  accounts,  stood  about  a  mile 
from  the  sea-shore,  at  which  spot  close  to  the  road  on  both  sides  the 
remains  of  ancient  walls  are  scattered  over  the  fields,  and  are  half 
covered  with  vines,    olives,  and  hedges.     Mola  was  the  spot  where 
Tasso  was  complimented  by  banditti,  as  related  in  Rogers's  Italy : 
When  along  the  shore, 
And  by  the  path,  that,  wandering  on  its  way, 
Leads  to  the  fatal  grove  where  Tully  fell, 
He  came,  and  they  withdrew. 

The  part  of  the  above  epigram  which  has  chiefly  been  noticed  by 
modern  writers,  is  that  relating  to  the  docility  of  the  fish.  In  an 
epigram  on  Domitian's  fish-pond,  Martial  writes  that  the  emperor's 
fish  had  names,  and  each  came  as  it  was  summoned,  and  that  they 
licked  the  emperor's  hand : 

Qui  norunt  dominum,  manumque  lambunt 
Illam,  qua  nihil  est  in  orbe  majus. 

Melmoth,  in  the  notes  to  his  Cicero  De  Amicitia,  after  mentioning 
a  store-pond  of  sea-water  constructed  by  Lucullus,  who  perforated  a 
mountain  for  the  purpose,  contiguous  to  his  villa  at  Naples,  observes, 
"  Martial,  in  describing  the  elegant  villa  of  Apollinaris,  on  the  sea- 
coast,  among  other  voluptuous  accommodations  with  which  it  was 
furnished,  celebrates,  with  particular  encomium,  his  piscinae,  or  store- 
ponds  ; 

In  vain  rude  ^Eolus  deforms 

Old  Ocean's  brow  with  rising  storms; 
Thy  splendid  board,  secure,  defies 
The  angry  main,  and  threat'ning  skies. 
Within  thy  ample  bason  see 
Each  nobler  fish  that  swims  the  sea. 


250  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [OH. 

The  stately  sturgeon,  Ocean's  pride, 
The  mugil,  fond  in  sands  to  hide, 
The  turbot,   and  the  mullet  old, 
Are  pastur'd  in  the  liquid  fold. 
Trained  to  the  summons,  lo!  they  all 
Rise  at  the  feeder's  well-known  call." 

It  may  be  suspected  that  Ben  Jonson,  in  the  following  passage  of 
his  poem  on  Penshurst,  was  imitating  Martial  rather  than  describing 
what  he  had  actually  seen : 

And  if  the  high-swoln  Medway  fail  thy  dish, 

Thou  hast  thy  ponds  that  pay  thee  tribute  fish. 

Fat  aged  carps  that  run  into  thy  net, 

And  pikes  now  weary  their  own  kind  to  eat, 

As  loth  the  second  draught  or  cast  to  stay, 

Officiously  at  first  themselves  betray; 

Bright  eels  that  emulate  them,  and  leap  on  land, 

Before  the  fisher,  or  unto  his  hand. 

Mr  Hoare,  the  continuator  of  Eustace,  in  noticing  the  ancient  Via 

leading  from  Formiae  (Mola)  to  Caieta  (Gaeta),  writes,  that  it  "affords 

a  continual  succession  of  antique  fabrics,  and  proves  the  very  great 

population   of  this   delightful   bay,  so  well   described   by  the   poet 

Martial, 

O  temperatse  dulce  Formise  littus?" 


CLXXV. 

JANICULUM. 


The  few  acres  of  Julius  Martialis  which  are  more  produc- 
tive than  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides,  lie  on  the  slope  of  the 
long  brow  of  the  Janiculum  hill :  secluded  recesses  of  ample 
extent  hang  over  the  adjacent  eminences,  and  the  summit  of 
the  ground,  which  is  level,  save  where  there  is  a  small  hillock, 
enjoys  an  unusually  pure  atmosphere;  it  shines  with  a  bright- 
ness peculiar  to  itself,  whilst  a  mist  covers  the  valleys  under- 


VII.  J  TOPOGRAPHY.  251 

neath.  The  handsome  turrets  of  a  lofty  villa  gently  approach 
the  serene  stars.  Hence  may  be  seen  the  seven  dominant  hills, 
and  a  panoramic  view  may  be  taken  of  the  ivhole  of  Borne. 
Also  there  may  be  hence  discerned  the  Albanian  and  Tus- 
culan  hills,  and  all  the  cool  suburbs  of  the  city,  ancient 
Fidene,  little  Rubra,  the  orchard  of  Perennee,  stained,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  with  a  virgin's  blood ;  and  hence  may  be 
viewed  the  travellers  of  the  Flaminian  and  Salarian  ways,  the 
chariots  only  not  being  heard,  lest  the  noise  of  the  wheels 
should  interrupt  bland  slumbers.  Neither  is  sleep  broken  by 
nautical  bawlings,  nor  by  the  clamour  of  the  rowers  of  barges, 
although  the  Milvian  bridge  is  nigh,  and  ships  are  seen  flying 
along  the  sacred  Tiber.  This,  whether  you  call  it  a  country- 
seat,  or  rather,  a  mansion,  is  improved  by  its  owner ;  you  will 
suppose  it  your  own,  such  is  the  owner's  liberal,  ungrudging, 
and  courteous  hospitality.  You  would  believe  that  you  were 
admitted  to  the  pious  penates  of  Alcinous,  or  of  Molorchus 
lately  enriched  by  the  emperor  with  a  temple.  You,  now, 
who  despise  small  possessions,  cultivate  Tibur  or  Prseneste 
with  a  hundred  spades,  and  deliver  the  sloping  Setia  (for 
profit  alone)  to  a  single  cultivator,  whilst,  in  my  judgment, 
the  few  acres  of  Julius  Martialis  are  to  be  preferred  to  them 
all. — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  lxiv. 

Pope,  in  his  imitation  of  Horace's  Satire,  Book  n.  Satire  n.,  in 
which  there  is  nothing  about  a  man  supposing  his  friend's  house  to  be 
his  own  {tuam  putabis),  may  not  improbably  have  had  reference  to 
Martial's  climax  of  hospitality : 

My  lands  are  sold,  my  father's  house  is  gone ; 
I'll  hire  another's,  is  not  that  my  own? 
And  yours,  my  friends?  through  whose  wide  opening  gate 
None  comes  too  early,  none  departs  too  late. 
The  passage  in  the  above  epigram  relative  to  a  panoramic  view  of 

Rome, 

Hinc  septem  dominos  videre  montes, 

Et  totam  licet  sestimare  Romam, 


252  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

is  taken  as  a  motto  for  a  map  of  Ancient  Rome  restored ;  a  copy  of 
which  map  is  affixed  to  the  wall  of  one  of  the  school-rooms  of  Eton 
College. 

Eustace,  in  describing  the  residence  of  Queen  Christina  at  the 
Corsini  Palace,  mentions  that  the  garden  runs  along  and  almost 
reaches  the  summit  of  the  Janiculum.  He  observes  that  the  garden 
was  open  to  the  public,  "  who,  as  they  wander  over  it,  may  enjoy  a 
complete  view  of  Rome  extended  over  the  opposite  hills ;  a  view  as 
classical  as  it  is  beautiful,  because  remarked  and  celebrated  in  classic 
times."  He  then  cites  a  portion  of  the  above  epigram  with  the  fol- 
lowing version : 

My  Martial's  small,  but  lovely  lands 

On  the  green  slope  that  wide  expands, 

Of  fair  Janiculum  recline; 

Th'  Hesperian  gardens  less  divine. 

There  many  a  cool  retreat  is  found, 

Far  rais'd  o'er  all  the  hills  around; 

The  level  summit,  mounting  high, 

Enjoys  an  ever  tranquil  sky; 

With  suns  their  own  those  regions  glow, 

Though  clouds  may  hide  the  vales  below, 

Thy  beauteous  villas  toward  the  skies 

With  gentle  elevation  rise; 

Hence  the  sev'n  hills,  and  hence  is  seen 

Whate'er  great  Rome  can  boast,  the  world's  triumphant  Queen. 


CLXXVI. 
COLISJEUM. 


Let  barbarous  Memphis  be  silent  concerning  her  miracu- 
lous pyramids ;  nor  let  Babylon  boast  of  what  can  be  achieved 
by  assiduity  of  labour;  nor  let  the  effeminate  Ionians  vaunt 
the  honours  of  the  temple  of  Diana  of  Ephesus ;  nor  let  the 
frequented  altar  of  Jupiter  Amnion  display  its  horned  Deity ; 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  253 

nor  let  the  Carians  extol  to  the  skies  their  mausoleum 
hanging  in  the  empty  air.  Let  every  achievement  of  human 
industry  yield  to  Caesar's  amphitheatre.  Let  Fame  henceforth 
talk  of  a  single  work  instead  of  all  others  (imam  pro  cunctis 
fama  loquatur  opus). — Sped.  t. 

Eustace,  after  describing  the  Colisseum  as  it  appears  in  the  present 
day,  observes,  "Never  did  human  art  present  to  the  eye  a  fabric 
so  well  calculated,  by  its  size  and  form,  to  surprise  and  delight." 
Then,  after  conducting  his  reader  through  the  vast  mass  of  ruins,  he 
writes,  "  Martial  prefers,  perhaps  with  justice,  this  amphitheatre  to 
all  the  prodigies  of  architecture  known  in  his  time."  He  then  quotes 
the  above  epigram,  (written,  probably,  more  in  a  spirit  of  flattery  than 
from  any  judgment  on  the  subject),  with  the  following  version: 

Why  sing  the  wonders  of  th'  Egyptian  shore? 

Let  far-famed  Babylon  be  prais'd  no  more; 

Let  not  Ionia  vaunt  Diana's  fane; 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Nor  let  the  Carian  town  exalt  so  high 

Its  mausoleum,  hanging  in  the  sky; 

In  Caesar's  amphitheatre  are  shown 

Those  rival  glories  all  combined  in  one: 

Let  Fame  henceforth  her  clam'rous  tongue  confine 

To  sing  the  beauties  of  that  dome  divine. 

The  learned  reader  will  judge  whether  the  distich  sent  by  the 
Public  Orator  at  Cambridge  to  King  James,  in  return  for  his  present 
of  the  Basilicon  Doron,  may,  possibly,  have  been  suggested  by  Mar- 
tial's epigram;  the  Orator  sets  a  single  book  above  the  Vatican  and 
Bodleian  libraries. 

Quid  Vaticanum  Bodleianumque  objicis,  hospes? 
Unicus  est  nobis  bibliotheca  liber. 

In  a  like  strain  Santeuil  compliments  Paris  on  its  buildings : 

Jam  non  invidendos 
Objiciat  tibi,  Roma,  colles. 


* 


254  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 


CLXXVII. 
PALATITJM. 

Smile,  Caesar!  at  the  miraculous  pyramids  of  Egyptian 
kings ;  let  barbarous  Memphis  be  silent  about  its  eastern  edi- 
fices. How  small  a  proportion  do  such  Mareotic  structures 
bear  to  the  Palatium,  than  which  the  Sun  beholds  nothing 
more  conspicuous  in  the  whole  world!  Its  seven  towers 
appear  to  rise  aloft  together,  like  seven  mountains;  Ossa, 
though  augmented  by  the  weight  of  Pelion,  was  smaller. 
Your  Palatium  has  its  pinnacles  encircled  by  the  bright 
stars,  and  raised  so  high  in  the  air  as  to  continue  serene, 
whilst  thunders  roll  from  clouds  below:  they  are  suffused 
with  the  rays  of  Phoebus  before  the  rest  of  the  world  is 
illumined,  and  earlier  even  than  Circe  (a  mountain  called 
Daughter  of  the  Sun)  beholds  her  father  at  his  uprising. 
Yet,  Augustus!  this  palace,  which  strikes  the  stars  with  its 
head,  is  equal  to  Heaven,  but  is  less  than  its  Lord  {Par  do- 
mus  est  coelo,  sed  minor  est  domino). — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xxxvi. 

Ben  Jonson,  among  his  devices  for  the  king's  entertainment  on 
passing  to  his  coronation,  has  for  an  inscription  on  the  frieze  over  the 
gate  of  Fenchurch,  where  the  king  entered  the  city  of  London,  on  his 
way  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster, 

Par  Domus  Hsec  Coelo, 
Sed  Minor  Est  Domino. 

As  to  London  being  the  house  of  the  king,  Ben  Jonson  explains 
this  inscription  by  two  others  which  accompany  it,  viz.  Londinium 
and  Camera  Regis,  with  regard  to  which  he  notices  that  Camden  says, 
in  his  Britannia,  that  London  acquired  the  title  of  Camera  Regis  im- 
mediately after  the  Conquest,  which  "  by  the  indulgence  of  succeeding 
princes,  hath  been  hitherto  continued." 

Extravagant  as  the  description  of  the  Palatium  may  appear,  it  is 
rivalled  by  Martial's  eulogy  on  the  temple  Flavice  Gentis,  erected  by 
Domitian  for  the  deification  of  his  family.     Martial  says  of  this  build- 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  255 

ing,  Invicta  quidquid  condidit  manus,  coslum  est.     Waller  writes  in 
a  like  vein  of  royal  edifices,  as  on  the  rebuilding  of  Somerset  House, 

But  what  new  mine  this  work  supplies? 
Can  such  a  pile  from  ruin  rise? 
This,  like  the  first  creation,  shows 
As  if  at  your  command  it  rose. 

And  on  the  restoration  of  St  Paul's  Cathedral, 

Troy  wall'd  so  high, 
Th'  Atrides  might  as  well  have  forc'd  the  sky. 
So  proud  a  fabric  to  devotion  giv'n, 
At  once  it  threatens  and  obliges  Heaven. 

Santeuil,  the  most  eminent  writer  of  Latin  poetry  among  the 
French,  would  seem  to  have  transferred  a  compliment  in  the  above 
epigram  from  Domitian  to  Louis  XIY. :  in  an  inscription  for  the 
Louvre  the  poet  writes, 

Attonitis  inhians  oculis  quam  suspicis,  hospes, 
Magna  quidem,  Domino  non  tamen  cequa  domus. 

"  Stranger  to  Paris !  you  gape  and  stare  at  this  large  mansion ; 
yet,  it  is  not  equal  to  its  Lord." 


CLXXVIII. 

NERO'S   PALACE. 


Here,  where  the  Colossus,  adorned  with  rays,  takes  a 
near  view  of  the  stars,  and  the  lofty  theatrical  machines  are 
elevated  in  the  middle  of  the  way,  shone  formerly  the  envy- 
moving  palace  of  the  savage  Nero ;  the  whole  city  thus  ap- 
pearing as  if  one  house.  Here,  where  the  venerable  pile  of 
the  conspicuous  amphitheatre  is  erected,  was  formerly  Nero's 
lake.  Here,  where  we  admire  the  hot-baths  so  rapidly  built 
by  the  emperor  Titus,  a  proud  pleasure-ground  had  deprived 
the  poor  of  their  dwellings.  Where  the  Claudian  portico 
spreads  its  broad  shade,  was  the  last  remnant  of  the  falling 


256  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

palace.  Rome  is  restored  to  itself;  and,  under  your  pre- 
sidency, O  Csesar!  what  was  the  exclusive  delight  of  the 
emperor  has  become  that  of  the  people. — Sped.  11. 

It  is  related  that  Nero  erected  his  own  statue  for  the  Colossus, 
spoken  of  in  the  above  epigram,  and  that  Vespasian  struck  off  Nero's 
head,  and  put  on  one  of  Apollo  with  rays.  The  pegmata  or  machines 
which  were  made  to  rise  and  to  sink  again,  were  dragged  up  and 
down  the  via  sacra  on  public  occasions.  Nero,  in  this  epigram,  is 
called  ferus;  in  one  on  the  banishment  of  Seneca,  fur  ens;  in  another, 
on  Lucan's  death,  crudelis.  His  Golden  House,  and  colossal  statue, 
120  feet  in  height,  have  been  described  by  Suetonius,  who  men- 
tions an  early  pasquinade  made  upon  the  Domus  Aurea: 

Roma  domus  net;  Yeios  migrate  Quirites! 
Si  non  et  Yeios  occupat  ista  domus ; 

which  his  translator  renders, 

Rome  will  be  all  one  house;  to  Veii  fly! 
If  that  house  move  not  thither  by  and  by. 

In  Canina's  Vicissitudes  of  the  Eternal  City  (by  Whiteside),  there 
are  several  references  to  the  above  epigram  of  Martial,  as  explaining 
the  topography  of  ancient  Rome.  He  writes  of  the  Colisseum,  "  This 
amphitheatre  was  placed  on  the  site  of  the  celebrated  lake  of  Nero, 
as  is  proved  by  the  well-known  lines  of  Martial  on  the  spectacles." 
In  a  note,  in  which  four  lines  of  the  above  epigram  are  quoted,  he 
refers  to  passages  from  Suetonius  and  Tacitus,  which  they  illustrate. 

Canina  states  that  there  exist  traces  of  a  portico  reaching  from 
the  Colisseum  to  the  baths  of  Titus  mentioned  in  the  above  epigram : 
this  communication  is  shown  by  ancient  medals.  He  observes  that 
Suetonius  takes  notice  of  Titus  having  built  his  baths,  which  he  pre- 
sented to  the  Roman  people,  in  a  short  space  of  time  {velocia  munera) : 
various  ruins  of  these  baths,  he  says,  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Colisseum.  He  refers  to  Martial  as  showing  that  Titus's  baths  occu- 
pied part  of  the  splendid  plain  that  formed  a  portion  of  the  Golden 
House  of  Nero.  It  was  among  the  ruins  of  Martial's  velocia  munera 
that  the  statue  of  the  Laocoon  was  discovered. 


VII.]  TOPOGRAPHY.  257 

CLXXIX. 

STREETS  OF  ROME. 

The  audacious  huckster  had  abstracted  the  whole  city, 
and  had  left  no  place  outside  of  his  own  threshold  for 
walking.  Germanicus !  (Domitian,  conqueror  of  Germany)  you 
commanded  the  attenuated  streets  to  amplify  in  size;  and 
thus  what  was  recently  a  narrow  passage  has  become  a  high- 
way. There  are  no  longer  columns  around  which  flagons  are 
chained.  The  Pra3tor  is  not  compelled  to  walk  in  the  middle 
of  the  mud ;  nor  is  the  encased  razor  any  longer  drawn  out  in 
the  middle  of  a  crowd ;  nor  does  the  smutty  cook's-shop  en- 
tirely block  up  a  street.  The  barber,  the  victualler,  the  cook, 
the  butcher,  confine  themselves  to  their  own  premises.  That  is 
now  Rome  which  lately  was  a  large  tavern. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  lx. 

Becker,  in  a  note  to  his  Gallus,  writes  of  the  above  epigram,  that 
the  tabernce  built  up  against  the  houses  in  Rome  had,  by  degrees,  so 
narrowed  the  streets,  that  Domitian  caused  a  decree  to  be  issued 
against  them,  and  every  inhabitant  was  confined  to  the  area  of  his 
own  house :  and  he  says  that  "  Martial,  his  ever-ready  flatterer,  had 
immortalized  the  interdict  by  an  epigram  interesting  to  us,  as  it  con- 
tributes so  much  towards  a  picture  of  the  appearance  of  the  Roman 
streets.  We  see  from  it,  he  observes,  that  wine  was  sold  not  only 
inside  the  tabernce,  but  also  in  front  of  them;  and  that,  probably,  at 
the  pillars  of  the  porticos  tables  were  placed  with  bottles,  fastened  by 
chains,  to  prevent  their  being  purloined."  Of  the  throngs  in  the 
streets,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  he  writes :  "  This  motley  multitude 
kept  passing  through  streets  which  were  rendered  disagreeably  narrow 
by  a  numerous  cluster  of  shops  choking  them  up.  For  hucksters  and 
merchants  of  all  sorts,  artists  in  hair  and  salve-sellers,  butchers  and 
pastry-cooks,  but  above  all,  vintners,  had  built  their  booths  far  into 
the  streets,  so  that  you  might  even  see  tables  arranged  along  the 
piers  and  pillars,  and  covered  with  bottles,  which  were,  however,  cau- 
tiously fastened  by  chains,  lest  perchance  they  might  be  niched." 
MART.  s 


258 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH.  VII. 


Martial  takes  many  walks  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  with  his 
sal  uters,  supper-hunters,  and  even  his  own  books,  in  which  his  de- 
scriptions are  sufficiently  minute,  both  of  localities  and  of  their  so- 
journers and  frequenters,  to  furnish  ample  materials  to  an  antiquarian 
Gay,  for  a  Roman  Trivia.  A  visitor  at  Rome,  with  Martial  as  his 
cicerone,  might  doubtless  trace  all  the  principal  streets  of  the  ancient 
city,  and  re-people  them  in  imagination  with  the  peculiar  classes  of 
persons  who  lived  in  them,  or  resorted  to  them,  respectively,  at  the 
several  hours  of  the  day,  what  times  they  frequently  observed  to  one 
another,  as  Martial  passed  along,  "  Hie  est."" 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
MOVEABLES. 


The  classical  antiquary  is  indebted  to  Martial  more  than 
to  any  other  ancient  writer  for  the  particulars  of  the  move- 
able property  of  the  Romans ;  in  his  epigrams  will  be  found  a 
multitude  of  details  on  this  subject  that  are  often  blended 
with  wit,  or  with  interesting  information  concerning  Roman 
maimers.  All  the  books  of  Martial  afford  contributions  appli- 
cable to  this  head ;  as,  for  instance,  where  he  charges  a  man 
with  fraudulently  increasing  the  apparent  value  of  his  house, 
by  gaudeously  furnishing  it;  or  wishes  a  thief  would  steal 
a  lady's  pearls,  which  she  called  her  brothers  and  sisters,  and 
by  which  she  swore.  But  it  is  chiefly  in  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  books  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  ordinary  contents 
of  Roman  houses  and  shops,  pet  animals,  works  of  art  or  curi- 
osity, the  products  of  markets,  farms,  dairies  and  vineyards. 

The  thirteenth  book  of  Martial  is  entitled  Xenia,  consist- 
ing of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  distichs  sent  to  friends 
or  returned  by  them,  and  accompanying  presents  during  the 
Saturnalia,  or  on  birth-days,  new-years  day,  recovery  from 
sickness,  or  other  like  occasions.  Martial,  throughout  his 
books,  is  witty  upon  the  subject  of  such  presents;  as,  for 
instance,  in  one  epigram,  he  protests  that  a  particular  indi- 
vidual must  have  been  born  at  least  twice ;  in  another,  that  a 
patron  had  sent  him  Saturnalian  gifts  which  were  carried  by 
eight  tall  Syrian  slaves,  but  the  value  of  which  might  have 

S2 


260 


MARTIAL   AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


been  brought  by  a  little  boy,  in  his  pocket.  In  a  prefatory 
epigram  to  the  Xenia,  Martial  confesses  that  he  himself  com- 
monly sent  the  distichs,  without  the  presents : 

H&ec  licet  hospitibus  pro  munere  disticha  mittas, 
Si  tibi  tarn  rams,  quam  mini,  nummus  erit. 

The  fourteenth  book  is  entitled  Apophoreta,  consisting  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty-three  distichs,  accompanying  pre- 
sents to  guests  at  entertainments,  which  were  determined  by 
lot;  this  was  a  species  of  diversion  used  chiefly  during  the 
Saturnalia.  Martial  calls  his  distichs,  in  this  and  the  preceding 
book,  nuces,  or  nuts  for  amusement,  during  the  five  days  when 
all  Rome  was  like  a  school-boy  in  his  holidays. 

The  modern  uses  of  the  epigrams  in  the  present  Chapter 
have  been  various,  but  have  principally  had  reference  to  the 
subject  of  Roman  antiquities.  Were  all  the  instances  to  be 
noticed  in  which  Martial  has  been  quoted  by  modern  Roman 
antiquarians  for  the  elucidation  of  that  portion  of  their  in- 
quiries which  relates  to  moveables,  this  work  would  be  in- 
creased to  an  inconvenient  size,  besides  waxing  tedious  to  the 
general  reader.  It  is  only  a  particular  class  of  readers  who 
would  feel  an  interest  in  Martial's  enumeration  of  the  various 
uses  of  the  mantle  called  an  endromis,  or  in  his  information 
concerning  the  materials  of  Roman  toothpicks.  A  reader 
must,  indeed,  be  ingenious  in  the  discovery  of  "  sermons  in 
stones,"  who  could  draw,  with  Dr  Malkin,  a  moral  from  Mar- 
tial's distich  on  an  ivory  box,  which,  the  poet  says,  ought  to 
be  used  for  gold,  a  wooden  box  being  good  enough  for  silver ; 
or  could  perceive  that  Martial  is  "  happily  lashing  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  fashion,"  where,  in  a  distich  accompanying  the  pre- 
sent of  a  lettuce,  he  asks,  as  if  of  some  editor  of  Notes  and 
Queries,  why  it  then  came  at  the  beginning,  instead  of,  as 
anciently,  the  end  of  a  feast : 

Claudere  quae  coenas  lactuca  solebat  avorum, 
Die  mihi,  cur  nostras  inchoat  ilia  dapes? 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  261 

It  has  been  endeavoured  to  select  epigrams  appertaining 
to  Roman  moveables,  of  which  a  modern  use  has  been  made, 
and  of  which  the  original  epigram,  or  at  least  the  modern  use 
of  it,  may  be  interesting  to  other  persons  than  antiquarians 
and  auctioneers. 


CLXXX. 

APOPHORETA. 


Whilst  the  Knight  and  the  governing  Senator  are  delight- 
ing in  their  syntheses  (having  laid  aside  the  toga),  and  a  cap 
becomes  our  Jupiter  (Domitian),  and  whilst  the  slave,  as  he 
rattles  his  dice-box,  has  no  fear  of  the  aedile,  since  he  observes 
that  the  pools  of  water  are  nearly  congealed  (in  December), 
accept  lots  designed  alternately  for  a  rich  and  for  a  poor  man, 
that  each  may  give  suitable  prizes  to  his  guests.  That  my 
verses  for  this  purpose  are  trifling  and  ludicrous,  who  does 
not  know,  and  who  would  have  the  effrontery  to  deny  ?  But 
what,  0  Saturn,  could  I  do  better  on  your  banqueting  days, 
which  your  son  gave  you  in  exchange  for  heaven?  Do 
you  wish  me  to  write  of  Thebes,  of  Troy,  of  the  wicked  My- 
cenae ?  You  reply,  "  Sport  with  nuts ;  I  am  unwilling  to  lose 
my  nuts."  Reader!  you  can  finish  a  book  of  tins  nature 
wherever  you  are;  each  subject  is  completed  in  two  verses. — 
Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  i. 

The  details  of  the  Roman  Apophoreta  may,  perhaps,  appear  to 
have  suggested  to  Sir  E.  Lytton  his  representation  of  the  drawing 
of  lots  for  presents  among  the  guests  at  a  dinner  a  la  mode  at  Pom- 
peii :  he  writes  that  Clodius,  the  host,  "  motioned  to  one  of  the  minis- 
tri,  and  whispering  him,  the  slave  went  out  and  presently  returned 
with  a  small  bowl  containing  various  tablets  carefully  sealed,  and 
apparently  exactly  similar.     Each  guest  was  to  purchase  one  of  these 


262  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

at  the  nominal  price  of  the  lowest  piece  of  silver,  and  the  sport  of 
this  lottery  (which  was  the  favourite  diversion  of  Augustus  who  intro- 
duced it)  consisted  in  the  inequality  and  sometimes  the  incongruity 
of  the  prizes,  the  nature  and  amount  of  which  were  specified  within 
the  tablets.  For  instance,  the  poet,  with  a  wry  face,  drew  one  of 
his  own  poems  (no  physician  ever  less  willingly  swallowed  his  own 
draught);  the  warrior  drew  a  case  of  bodkins,  which  gave  rise  to 
certain  novel  witticisms  relative  to  Hercules  and  the  .distaff;  the 
widow  Fulvia  obtained  a  large  drinking-cup ;  Julia  a  gentleman's 
buckle,  and  Lepidus  a  lady's  patch-box.  The  most  appropriate  lot 
was  drawn  by  the  gambler  Clodius,  who  reddened  with  anger  on 
being  presented  with  a  set  of  cogged  dice.  A  certain  damp  was 
thrown  upon  the  gaiety  which  these  various  lots  created,  by  an  acci- 
dent that  was  considered  ominous :  Glaucus  drew  the  most  valuable 
of  all  the  prizes,  a  small  marble  statue  of  Fortune,  of  Grecian  work- 
manship; in  handing  it  to  him,  the  slave  suffered  it  to  drop,  and 
it  broke  to  pieces." 

Among  Martial's  Apophoreta  are,  in  accordance  with  the  above 
scene,  several  statuettes,  varieties  of  dice,  golden  and  other  bodkins, 
buckles,  drinking-cups :  he  also  furnishes  precedents  of  personalities 
in  the  shape  of  presents,  provided,  as  was  probably  the  case,  the  lots 
were  sometimes  packed;  as  thus,  a  distich  on  a  dentrifice,  signifying 
that  it  was  not  meant  for  false  teeth : 

Quid  mecum  est  tibi?  me  puella  sumat, 
Emptos  non  soleo  polire  dentes. 

So  one  on  a  Bhytium,  addressed  to  a  bow-legged  man,  signifying  that 
he  might  wash  his  feet  in  it;  for  which  species  of  drinking-cup  the 
reader  must  be  referred  to  the  pictures  of  two  vessels  of  this  kind 
found  at  Pompeii,  resembling  horns,  in  Dr  Smith's  Dictionary : 

Cum  sint  crura  tibi  simulent  quae  cornua  lunse, 
In  rhytio  poteras,  Phoebe,  lavare  pedes. 

And  one  upon  a  pauperized  lawyer  who  scribbled  verses,  accompany- 
ing the  present  of  a  bullock's  heart,  an  emblem  of  stupidity : 

Pauper  causidicus  nullos  referentia  nummos 
Carmina  cum  scribas;  accipe  cor  quod  habes! 

Becker,  in  his  Gallus,  gives  many  quotations  from  Martial  re- 
specting the  synthesis;    he  says   that  it  was  never  worn  in  public 


VIII.] 


MOVEABLES. 


263 


except  during  the  Saturnalia.  For  the  use  of  this  dress  during  all 
seasons,  at  meals,  and  an  affectation  in  wearing  it,  he  refers  to  a 
witty  epigram  of  Martial,  in  which  it  is  said  that  Zoilus,  at  a  supper 
he  gave,  changed  his  synthesis  eleven  times,  complaining  of  perspira- 
tion, whereupon  the  poet  observes,  that  a  single  synthesis  (being  all 
he  had)  was  very  conducive  to  coolness.  Frigus  enim  magnum  syn- 
thesis unafacit. 


CLXXXL 

BAZAAR. 


(I.) 

Mamurra  wandered  much  and  long  among  the  shops  near 
the  Septa  where  golden  Rome  tosses  about  her  wealth.  He 
gazed  on  the  slaves,  not  those  exposed  for  sale  to  people  of 
my  condition  in  the  open  shops,  but  kept  for  rich  connoisseurs 
in  private  apartments.  Satisfied  with  this  sight,  he  called  for 
the  round  tables  (orbes)  to  be  uncovered,  and  those  of  ivory 
to  be  taken  down  from  their  high  shelves,  and  to  be  displayed 
to  him.  Measuring  four  times  a  liexaclinon  (dinner-couch  for 
six  persons),  made  of  tortoiseshell,  he  lamented  that  it  was 
not  of  a  size  large  enough  for  his  cedar  table  (eitrd).  He  con- 
sulted his  nose  as  to  whether  vessels  were  of  true  Corinthian 
brass,  and  he  picked  out  faults  even  in  your  statues,  0  Poly- 
cletus !  He  complained  that  the  crystalline  vases  had  a  small 
alloy  of  glass ;  he  took  a  marked  notice  of  the  myrrhine  cups 
(myrrhina),  and  laid  aside  ten  of  them.  He  pondered  long 
upon  ancient  vases,  particularly  such  as  he  found  ennobled  by 
the  hand  of  Mentor.  He  numbered  the  green  emeralds  em- 
bossed in  gold,  and  whatever  jewels  that  hang  from  a  white 
ear  (pearls)  are  in  higher  estimation.  He  sought  for  real  sar- 
donyxes  on  every  table,  and  asked  the  price  of  large  jaspers. 


264 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


At  the  eleventh  hour,  when  he  was  on  the  point  of  departing, 
he  purchased  two  cups  for  the  price  of  an  as  (two  farthings 
and  an  eighth),  and  (not  being  attended  by  a  slave)  took  them 
home  in  his  own  hands. — Lib.  ix.  Ep.  lx. 

(ii.) 

Eros  grieves  as  often  as  he  beholds  cups  of  spotted 
myrrha,  or  noble  citron  tables,  and  groans  from  the  bottom 
of  his  breast,  that  he  cannot  buy  the  whole  septa,  and  take 
them  home.  How  many  do  the  same  as  Eros,  but  with  dry 
eyes!  Most  people  laugh  at  his  tears,  yet  cry  inwardly. — 
Lib.  x.  Ep.  lxxx. 

The  first  of  the  above  epigrams  is  closely  copied,  and  the  second 
alluded  to,  by  Becker.  "  Gallus  strode  proudly  through  the  streets, 
and,  careless  of  the  crowds  that  beset  the  forum,  entered  the  shops 
where  all  the  valuables  that  streamed  into  Rome  from  the  most 
remote  regions  lay  stored  up  in  rich  profusion.  These  tabemce  never 
lacked  a  number  of  visitors;  they  were  frequented  not  only  by  such 
as  really  intended  to  make  purchases,  but  also  by  those  who,  full  of 
repining  at  not  possessing  all  the  costly  articles,  devoured  them  with 
greedy  gaze,  demanded  to  see  every  thing,  made  offers  for  some  of  the 
goods,  and  ordered  others  to  be  put  aside,  as  if  chosen;  whilst  others 
pointed  out  slight  defects,  or  regretted  that  they  did  not  quite  suit 
their  purpose,  and  after  all  went  away  without  purchasing  any  thing 
beyond  mere  trifles.  In  the  tabemce  of  the  slave- merchants  especially, 
there  were  persons  who,  under  pretence  of  becoming  purchasers,  pene- 
trated into  the  interior,  where  the  most  beautiful  slaves  were  kept  in 
order  that  they  might  be  out  of  sight  of  ordinary  visitors.  Passing 
these  tabemce,  Gallus  entered  one  where  costly  furniture  was  exposed 
to  sale.  Expensive  cedar  tables,  carefully  covered,  and  supported  by 
strong  pillars,  veneered  with  ivory ;  dinner-couches  of  bronze,  richly 
adorned  with  silver  and  gold,  and  inlaid  with  costly  tortoiseshell. 
Some  one  who  hardly  meant  to  be  a  purchaser  was  just  getting  the 
covers  removed  from  some  of  the  cedar  tables  by  the  attendant,  but 
he  found  that  they  were  not  spotted  to  his  taste.  A  hexaclinon  of 
tortoiseshell  seemed,  however,  to  attract  him  amazingly,  but  after 
measuring  it  three  or  four  times,  he  said  with  a  sigh,  that  '  it  was, 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  265 

alas!  a  few  inches  too  small  for  the  cedar  table  for  which  he  had 
intended  it.'  Gallus,  in  his  turn,  looked  over  the  stock,  but  seeing 
nothing  adapted  to  a  present  for  Lycoris,  left  the  shop,  and  "went  into 
another,  where  precious  vessels  of  Corinthian  brass,  statues  by  Poly- 
cletus  and  Lysippus,  and  similar  objects  were  displayed.  He  thence 
proceeded  to  that  of  a  merchant,  who  kept  for  sale  the  best  selection 
of  gorgeous  trinkets.  Beautiful  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  goblets  of 
precious  stones,  or  genuine  myrrha,  ingenious  manufactures  in  glass, 
and  many  other  precious  wares,  were  exhibited  in  such  profusion  that 
it  was  difficult  to  choose." — -Some  details  in  Becker's  septa  are  here 
omitted,  because  inapplicable  to  Martial's  epigrams,  which  he  men- 
tions, in  a  note,  are  the  groundwork  of  his  description.  He  also 
praises  Martial's  notice,  in  the  second  of  the  above  epigrams,  of  the 
sorrowful  feelings  which  arose  in  the  minds  of  many  on  beholding 
these  displays  of  finery. 

Milton  may  seem  to  have  had  in  view  Martial's  enumeration  of 
Roman  articles  of  luxury  in  the  above  and  other  epigrams,  where  he 
draws  a  tableau  of  Borne  in  his  Paradise  Regained,  thus : 

Their  sumptuous  gluttonies  and  gorgeous  feasts 
On  citron  tables  or  Atlantic  stone, 
Their  wines  of  Setia,  Cales,  and  Falern, 
Chios  and  Crete,  and  how  they  quaff  in  gold, 
Crystal  and  myrrhine  cups,  embossed  with  gems 
And  studs  of  pearl. 

Some  of  Milton's  commentators  say  that  there  is  no  authority  for 
Atlantic  stone  being  used  for  tables,  but  that  the  poet  was  probably 
misled  by  an  imperfect  recollection  of  Martial's  distich  on  a  table 
made  of  wood  from  Mount  Atlas : 

Accipe  felices,  Atlantica  munera,  sylvas, 
Aurea  qui  dederit  dona,  minora  dabit. 

In  reference  to  tables  of  this  description,  Becker,  in  his  description  of 
the  furniture  of  Callus's  house,  writes  :  "No  less  were  the  Tricliniarch 
and  his  subordinates  occupied  in  the  larger  saloons,  where  stood  the 
costly'  tables  of  cedar-wood,  with  pillars  of  ivory  supporting  their 
massive  orbs,  which  had,  at  an  immense  expense,  been  conveyed  to 
Borne  from  the  primeval  woods  of  Atlas."  It  would  appear  that 
Milton  had  made  another  mistake,  and  that  the  citrum  used  for  tables 


266 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


was  not  the  wood  of  the  citron  tree,  but  was  of  larger  magnitude,  and 
brought  from  Mount  Atlas. 

As  to  the  embossed  and  studded  cups;  mentioned  above  by  Martial 
and  Milton,  Martial  has  another  epigram,  in  which  he  expresses 
astonishment  at  the  number  of  fingers  a  cup  so  adorned  must  have 
denuded  of  their  gems : 

Gemmatum  Scythicis  ut  luceat  ignibus  aurum, 
Aspice,  quot  digitos  exuit  iste  calix! 


CLXXXIL 


ANTIQUES. 


Nothing  is  more  odious  than  the  antiques  of  old  Euctus, 
to  which  I  prefer  cups  made  of  Saguntan  clay.  Thus  he 
prates  about  the  smoky  images  on  his  silver  vessels,  leaving 
the  wine  in  them  to  get  vapid,  owing  to  his  many  words :  he 
says,  "  These  were  the  cups  used  at  the  table  of  Laomedon, 
the  obtaining  of  which  for  a  reward  induced  Apollo  to  build 
the  walls  of  Troy  with  his  lyre.  With  this  goblet  the  fierce 
Rhsetus  fought  against  the  Lapithse;  you  observe  that  the 
workmanship  has  been  a  little  damaged  by  that  encounter. 
This  double  cup  is  known  to  have  been  cast  by  the  orders  of 
Nestor :  a  dove  sculptured  on  one  of  its  handles  looks  rubbed 
by  his  thumb.  This  is  the  tankard  in  which  Achilles  (JEaddes) 
ordered  wine  to  be  mixed  largely  for  his  friends,  and  out  of 
which  he  drank  it  himself  unmixed.  With  this  large  cup 
the  beautiful  Dido  pledged  Bytias  at  the  famous  supper  she 
gave  to  her  Trojan  husband.  When  you  have  much  admired 
all  this  anciently-embossed  silver,  you  will  be  made  to  drink 
Astyanax  (Priam's  grandson)  in  the  cups  of  Priam  (new  wine 
in  old  cups). Lib.  via.  Ep.  vi. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  267 

Sir  Henry  Spelman,  in  his  Latin  treatise  on  Icenia  (Norfolk,  Suf- 
folk, Cambridgeshire,  Huntingdonshire),  mentions  a  tradition,  that 
King  John  had  given  to  the  town  of  Lynn  a  sword  from  his  side,  and 
also  a  silver  cup,  gilt  inside,  the  outside  of  encaustic,  much  to  be 
admired,  and  adorned  with  figures  of  real  gold.  The  town's-men,  he 
writes,  consider  it  "  a  sacred  rite  to  drink  from  it  wine,  though  not 
of  the  choicest  kind;  they  drink,  indeed,  and  do  not  make  libations. 
Many  more  fell  by  the   cup  than  by  the  sword.     I  may  say  with 

Martial, 

Hie  scyphus  est  in  quo  misceri  jussit  amicis 

Largius  Henricides,  et  bibit  ipse  merum." 

Henricides  is  used  by  Spelman  to  denote  King  John,  son  of  Henry  II. 
Martial,  as  is  seen,  using  the  word  uEacides  to  denote  Achilles. 

Becker  has  introduced  the  articles  of  antiquity  mentioned  in 
the  above  epigram,  among  the  furniture  of  Gallus's  house,  on  the 
authority  of  Martial. 


CLXXXITI. 
RELIC. 


The  fragment  which  you  deem  a  vile  and  useless  piece  of 
Avood  was  a  part  of  the  keel  of  the  Argo,  the  first  ship  that 
sailed  on  the  theretofore  untried  sea.  The  Cyanean  rocks 
and  the  storms  of  the  Scythian  Ocean  could  not  wreck  it. 
Ages  have  conquered  it ;  but,  although  it  has  yielded  to  the 
force  of  years,  this  little  relic  is  more  sacred  than  any  ship, 
however  safe  and  entire. — Lib.  vn.  Ep.  xviii. 

It  is  probable  that  the  fragment  of  the  ship  Argo,  mentioned  in 
the  abo've  epigram,  the  Ramenal  tree,  mentioned  by  Tacitus,  which 
sheltered  Romulus  and  Remus,  Romulus's  cottage,  and  similar  relics, 
may  have  assisted  in  suggesting  those  relics  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  such  as  pieces  of  the  holy  cross,  of  which  Voltaire  writes, 


268  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

Ami,  la  Superstition 
Fit  ce  present  a  la  Sotise, 
Ne  le  dis  pas  a  la  Kaison, 
Menageons  l'honneur  de  l'Eglise. 

Becker,  in  his  Gallus,  after  mentioning  several  objects  at  Rome 
that  were  curious  on  account  of  their  antiquity,  writes,  "But  the 
most  remarkable  of  all  was  a  relic  of  the  keel  of  the  Argo,  only  a  chip, 
it  is  true ;  but  who  did  not  transport  himself  back  to  the  olden  days, 
when  he  saw  before  him,  and  could  feel  this  portion  of  the  most 
ancient  of  ships,  and  on  which,  perhaps,  Minerva  herself  had  placed 
her  hand?"  In  a  note,  Becker  observes  that,  in  other  epigrams,  Mar- 
tial ridicules  the  credulous  simplicity  which  could  place  faith  in 
similar  relics,  but  that  he  speaks  quite  seriously  on  the  subject  of  the 
Argo,  which  might  have  been  owing  to  its  belonging  to  some  patron 
of  distinction,  perhaps  Domitian.  Cowley  has  several  poems  on  a 
parallel  subject,  the  conversion  of  part  of  Drake's  ship  into  a  chair. 


CLXXXIV. 

TABLE   HEBCULES. 


I  lately  asked  Vindex,  whose  workmanship  and  happy 
labour  had  sculptured  his  statue  of  Hercules  ?  He  answered, 
with  a  smile,  as  he  is  wont,  and  a  slight  nod,  "Poet,  don't 
you  understand  Greek?''  The  base  of  the  statue  has  an 
inscription,  which  indicates  the  name  of  the  artist,  I  read, 
"  Of  Lysippus/'  I  took  it  for  a  work  of  Phidias. — Lib.  ix. 
Ep.  XLV. 

The  above  epigram  may  have  suggested  the  inscription  on  a 
pedestal  of  a  statue,  which  Addison  saw  at  Milan,  of  St  Bartholomew, 
newly  flayed,  with  his  skin  hanging  over  his  shouders.  "  They  have 
inscribed,"  he  writes,  "  this  verse  on  the  pedestal,  to  show  the  value 
they  have  for  the  workman : 

Non  me  Praxiteles,  sed  Marcus  fecit  Agrati. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  269 

Lest  at  the  sculptor  doubtfully  you  guess, 
'Tis  Marc  Agrati,  not  Praxiteles.'.' 
The  statue  which  is  the  subject  of  the  above  epigram  is  elsewhere 
celebrated  by  Martial  in  a  different  spirit  from  that  in  which  he  ridi- 
cules the  antiques  of  Euctus.  He  tells  us  that  it  had  belonged  to  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  then  to  Hannibal,  and  afterwards  to  Sylla,  whom  it 
compelled  to  lay  down  his  dictatorship.  Statius  has  a  long  poem  on 
the  same  statue,  which  he  calls  JEJpitrapezios.  The  figure  was  seated 
on  a  lion's  skin,  was  of  bronze,  holding,  in  one  hand,  a  goblet,  in  the 
other  a  club ;  the  face  was  very  cheerful ;  the  size  of  the  statue  was 
not  quite  a  foot  high;  it  was  placed  on  Vindex's  supper-table: 

Hsec  inter,  festse  Genius  tutelaque  mensse, 
Amphitryoniades. 

Sir  E.  Lytton  has  observed,  in  his  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  that 
"the  modern  ornaments  of  epergne  and  plateau  were,  among  the 
Romans,  supplied  by  images  of  the  gods  wrought  in  bronze,  ivory  and 
silver." 


CLXXXV. 

MENTAL   PORTRAIT. 


CLecilius !  you  ask  whose  countenance  is  represented  in 
that  picture,  which  is  worshipped  with  violets  and  roses? 
Such  was  Marcus  Antonius  Primus,  in  his  middle  age.  Now, 
in  his  old  age,  he  beholds,  in  this  picture,  what  were  his 
youthful  features.  Would  that  art  could  have  represented 
the  mind  and  the  morals  of  my  friend:  for  thus  the  world 
could  not  exhibit  a  picture  of  more  beauty! — Lib.  x.  Ep. 

XXXII. 

The  reader  may,  probably,  be  of  opinion,  that  the  above  epigram 
was  the  model  of  Ben  Jonson's  verses  written  under  the  engraved 
picture  of  Shakspere  in  the  first  edition  of  his  collected  works;  par- 
ticularly when  Jonson's  familiarity  with  the  writings  of  Martial  is 
considered : 


270 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


This  figure  which  thou  here  seest  put 

It  was  for  gentle  Shakspere  cut. 

Wherein  the  graver  had  a  strife 

With  nature  to  outdo  the  life: 

O,  could  he  but  have  drawn  his  wit 

As  well  in  brass,  as  he  has  hit 

His  face!  the  print  would  then  surpass 

All  that  was  ever  writ  in  brass. 

But  since  it  Cannot,  Reader,  look 

Not  on  his  picture,  but  his  book! 

There  are  many  epigrams  of  Martial  on  statues  and  pictures, 
which,  for  want  of  any  modern  use,  are  omitted  in  this  work,  but 
which  are  by  no  means  destitute  of  modern  interest,  as,  for  instance, 
the  epigrams  concerning  Polycletus's  Juno,  the  bust  of  Socrates,  an 
encaustic  painting  of  Phaethon.  In  Martial  is  to  be  found  an  ex- 
pression which  has  been  made,  by  a  modern  Italian  poet,  the  point 
of  an  admired  epigram  on  Timomachus's  picture  of  Medea,  ending 
Vult,  non  vult,  natos  perdere  et  ipsa  suos.     Martial  has  it : 

Vult,  non  vult,  dare  Galla  mihi:  nee  dicere  possum,       , 
Quod  vult,  et  non  vult,  quid  sibi  Galla  velit. 


CLXXXVI. 

PICTURE   OF   A   LAP-DOG. 


Issa  is  more  frolicsome  that  the  sparrow  of  Catullus : 
Issa  is  purer  than  the  kiss  of  a  turtle-dove :  Issa  is  more 
bland  than  every  damsel :  Issa  is  more  precious  than  Indian 
gems :  Issa  is  the  delight  of  Publius.  If  her  master  com- 
plains, Issa  murmurs  an  echo  to  his  voice ;  grieving  when 
he  is  sad :  rejoicing  when  he  is  merry.  She  lies  couched 
upon  his  neck,  and  there  slumbers  with  a  noiseless  breath. 
Lest  fatal  destiny  should  snatch  her  entirely  away,  Publius 
has  had  a  picture  taken  of  her,  in  which  you  may  behold 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  271 

a  likeness  of  Issa  as  true  as  nature  itself.  Only  place  Issa 
and  her  picture  side  by  side,  you  would  declare  that  both 
must  be  real,  or  both  must  be  painted. — Lib.  i.  Ep.  ex. 

Becker  writes,  in  his  G alius,  "  You  know,  Issa,  Terentia's  lap- 
dog,  I  have  had  the  little  imp  painted,  sweetly  reposing  upon  a  soft 
cushion;  it  was  only  finished  yesterday,  and  the  illusion,  I  assure 
you,  is  quite  complete:  place  it  by  the  side  of  the  delicate  little 
animal,  and  you  will  think  either  that  both  are  painted,  or  both  alive." 
Becker  notices  that  Martial  mentions  as  other  pets  of  the  Roman 
ladies,  bubo,  cercopithecos,  ichneumon,  pica,  draco,  luscinia;  the  draco 
took  the  place  of  a  necklace. 

Si  gelidum  collo  nectit  Glacilla  draconem, 
Luscinise  tumulum  si  Thelesina  dedit. 

Waller  has  a  poem  on  a  lady  who  beatified  a  pet  snake : 
Contented  in  that  nest  of  snow 
He  lies,  as  he  his  bliss  did  know. 


CLXXXVIL 

SWAN. 


The  swan  modulates  sweet  songs  with  a  faltering  tongue  ; 
itself  a  singer  at  its  own  funeral. — Lib.  xm.  Ep.  lxxvii. 

Lord  Coke,  in  his  Case  of  Swans,  in  his  7th  Report,  has  a  ridicu- 
lous passage  concerning  the  vulgar  error  above  echoed ;  he  lays  it  down 
that,  "by  the  Common  Law,  cygnets  belong  to  the  owners  of  the 
cock  and  hen  as  tenants  in  common,  and  the  law  thereof  is  founded  on 
a  reason  in  nature ;  for  the  cock  swan  is  an  emblem  of  an  affectionate 
and  true  husband  to  his  wife  above  all  other  fowls;  for  he  holdeth 
himself  to  one  female  only.  For  this  cause  nature  hath  conferred  on 
him  a  gift  beyond  all  others,  that  is  to  die  so  joyfully,  that  he  sings 
sweetly  when  he  dies ;  upon  which  the  poet  saith : 

Dulcia  defecta  modulatur  carmina  lingua 
Cantator,  Cygnus,  funeris  ipse  sui. 


litJi 


272  MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [CH. 

And,  therefore,  this  case  of  the  swan  doth  differ  from  the  case  of 
kine,  or  other  brute  beasts  (to  whom  the  rule  applies  of  partus  sequi- 
tur  ventrem)" 

George  Lamb,  in  a  poetical  preface  to  his  translation  of  Catullus, 
in  which  he  commemorates  poet-lawyers,  says  that  Lord  Coke  taught 
the  law  of  swans  by  the  aid  of  poetry  : 

As  how  to  swans,  their  truth's  reward,  belong 
A  joyful  death,  and  sweet  expiring  song. 


CLXXXVIII. 

MAGPIE. 


A  talkative  magpie,  I  salute  you,  my  master,  with  my 
articulate  voice.  So  long  as  you  do  not  see  me,  you  will  per- 
sist in  declaring  that  I  am  not  a  bird. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  lxxvi. 

The  above  epigram  is  referred  to  by  Becker,  in  illustration  of  the 
subject  of  a  Roman  house  :  it  shows  that  it  was  the  practice  to 
suspend  a  bird  over  the  door  to  give  salutations.  Rogers  notices,  in 
his  poem  on  Italy,  that  it  appears  from  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  an  Ave 
was  often  drawn  in  Mosaic  upon  the  lower  threshold  of  houses : 

But,  lo,  engraven  on  a  threshold-stone, 
That  word  of  courtesy  so  sacred  once, 
Hail! 

In  another  epigram,  Martial  uses  the  expression,  pica  salutatrix; 
in  another,  he  has  parrot,  which  says  ave,  in  another  he  represents 
the  magpie  saluting  ploughmen  : 

Inde  salutatus  picse  respondit  arator. 

In  a  recent  number  of  Blackwood's  Magazine  on  the  subject  of 
magpies,  the  writer,  after  observing  on  the  bird's  wonderful  imitation 
of  the  human  voice,  mentions  Martial's  mean  opinion  of  it  as  an 
article  of  food,  at  least,  if  it  dies  in  its  cage,  where  he  is  speaking  of 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  273 

not  being  permitted  to  partake,  as  Ben  Jonson  says,  "  of  my  lord's 
own  meat:" 

Aureus  immodicis  turtur  te  clunibus  implet, 
Ponitur  in  caved  mortua  pica  mihi. 


CLXXXIX. 

A   BIRD-CAGE. 


If  you  have  such  a  bird  as  the  one  lamented  by  Lesbia, 
the  mistress  of  Catullus,  here  it  may  dwell. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep. 

LXXVII. 

The  above  epigram,  in  conjunction  with  others  of  Martial,  has 
been  quoted  to  negative  the  opinion  of  those  who  consider  Catullus's 
Sparrow  as  a  licentious  myth,  and  to  show  that  Martial  understood 
Catullus's  poem  in  a  literal  sense.  George  Lamb  thus  renders  the 
epigram : 

E'en  such  a  bird,  so  fond,  so  gay, 

As  Lesbia  loved  so  well, 
And  mourn'd  in  sweet  Catullus'  lay, 
In  thee  might  happy  dwell. 


cxc. 

TUMBLER. 


The  keen  tumbler  {cards  vertagus)  does  not  hunt  for 
himself,  but  for  his  master ;  he  will  bring  you  a  hare  un- 
injured by  his  teeth. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  cc. 

Butler,  in  his  Hudibras,  compares  his  hero  to  a  tumbler,  in  the 
matter  of  matrimony : 

Like  a  tumbler  that  does  play 
His  game,  and  looks  another  way, 
MART.  T 


274 


MARTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS. 


[CH. 


Until  lie  seize  upon  the  coney, 
Just  so  does  lie  by  matrimony. 
But  all  in  vain:  her  subtle  snout 
Did  quickly  wind  his  meaning  out. 

Dr  Nash,  in  his  edition  of  Hudibras,  describes  a  tumbler  as  a  sort 
of  dog  that  rolls  himself  in  a  heap,  and  tumbles  over,  disguising  his 
shape  and  motion  till  he  is  within  reach  of  the  game :  he  refers  to 
the  above  epigram  of  Martial  for  the  use  of  the  term  vertagus,  im- 
porting a  tumbling,  as  applied  to  a  dog. 


CXCL 


RABBIT. 

The  Rabbit  (cuniculus)  delights  in  inhabiting  caves  dug 
in  the  earth:  he  instructed  enemies  in  the  art  of  making 
secret  paths. — Lib,  xiii.  Ep.  lx. 

According  to  Vegetius,  a  subterraneous  passage  in  warfare  was 
called  a  cuniculus,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  rabbit's  burrow.  It 
is  possible  that  Martial's  epigram  may  have  suggested  the  following 
passage  in  Pope's  Essay  on  Man;  especially  considering  that  Pope 
was  very  much  in  the  habit  of  adopting  ideas  from  other  poets, 
which  he  expanded  and  adorned :  the  personification  of  Nature,  and 
the  putting  of  a  lecture  into  her  mouth,  seems  manifestly  borrowed 
from  Lucretius. 

Thus  then  to  man  the  voice  of  Nature  spake; 
Go,  from  the  creatures  thy  instructions  take, 

Learn  of  the  mole  to  plough,  the  worm  to  weave. 
*  *  *  * 

Here  subterranean  works,  and  cities  see. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  275 

CXCII. 

INSECTS   IN   AMBER. 

(I.) 
Whilst  an  Ant  wandered  in  the  shade  of  poplars  (Phae- 
tontea),  their  juicy  gum  entangled  the  little  animal ;   thus, 
although  despised   during  life,   it  became   precious    by  its 
funeral. — Lib.  vi.  Ep.  xv. 

(IT.) 

Whilst  a  Viper  was  creeping  among  the  weeping  branches 
of  the  daughters  of  the  Sun  (Heliadmn,  poplars  into  which 
they  had  been  metamorphosed),  their  juicy  gum  flowed  over 
the  struggling  animal :  when  it  was  astonished  at  such  an 
impediment,  it  suddenly  grew  stiff,  as  if  by  congelation. 
Take  no  longer  a  pride,  0  Cleopatra  !  in  your  royal  sepulchre, 
since  a  viper  is  more  nobly  entombed. — Lib.  iv.  Ep.  lix. 

(in.) 

A  Bee  is  buried,  and  yet  shines  in  the  juice  of  the  poplar- 
tree,  as  though  it  were  inclosed  within  its  own  nectar :  such 
was  a  reward  worthy  of  its  signal  industry ;  it  may  be  sup- 
posed that  it  would  have  chosen  this  kind  of  death. — Lib.  iv. 
Ep.  xxxii. 

Becker,  in  his  description  of  the  furniture  of  Gallus's  house,  re- 
ferring to  Martial,  writes,  "between  these  were  several  smaller  vessels 
of  amber,  and  two  of  great  rarity;  in  one  of  which  a  bee,  and  in  the 
other  an  ant,  had  found  its  transparent  tomb." 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  a  Discourse  on  the  Laws  of  Jesus  Christ,  ob- 
serves that,  "  Our  obedience  which  Christ  exacts  is  a  sincere  obedience 
of  the  will,  and  is  not  satisfied  with  an  outward  wish;  a  fair  tomb  of 
amber  was  too  beauteous  and  rich  an  inclosure  for  Martial's  viper." 

Considering  Pope's  familiarity  with  Martial  {supra  Ep.  xxxix.) 
it  is  not  improbable  that  the  above  pretty  epigrams  may  have  sug- 
gested the  well-known  comparison  of  certain  critics  on  Shakspere  and 
Milton  to  insects  in  amber : 

t2 


276 


ARTIAL    AND    THE   MODERNS. 


[CH. 


Pretty,  in  amber,  to  observe  the  forms 
Of  hairs,  or  straws,  or  grubs,  or  dirt,  or  worms; 
The  things,  we  know,  are  neither  rich,  nor  rare, 
But  wonder  how  the  devil  they  got  there. 
Cowley  may  be  thought  to  have  had  an  eye  to  the  second  of  the 
above  epigrams,  where  he  writes  of  nightingales  expiring  upon  the 
conquering  lyre  (called,  by  Crawshaw,  Music's  Duel) : 

Happy,  0  happy  they!    whose  tomb  might  be, 
Mausolus!    envied  by  thee! 


CXCIII. 

FLOWERS  AND   FRUITS. 

(i.) 
Lest  your  exotics  should  feel  the  whiter,  and  the  cold  air 
should  bite  your  young  plants,  your  coverings  of  pellucid 
stone,  that  are  opposed  to  the  windy  quarter,  admit  the  sun- 
shine without  snow,  rain,  or  dust.  But  you  assign  me  a 
chamber  not  completely  fenced  from  the  air  by  any  window, 
in  which  Boreas  himself  would  decline  to  dwell.  Is  this  the 
habitation  you  think  fit  for  an  old  friend?  I  had  rather  be 
the  guest  of  one  of  your  rose-trees. — Lib.  vm.  Ep.  xiv. 

(ii.) 
Whoever  might  have  seen  Alcinous's  gardens,  would 
have  preferred  yours,  Entellus !  Lest  the  envious  winter 
should  destroy  your  purple  clusters,  and  the  sharp  frost  nip 
the  gifts  of  Bacchus,  your  vintage  flourishes  under  a  covei'ing 
of  transparent  gems;  the  grapes  being  protected,  and,  yet, 
not  concealed.  Thus  the  shape  of  woman  shines  through  her 
silken  attire,  thus  pebbles  are  numbered  in  a  pure  stream. 
WTiat  limits  has  Nature  assigned  to  the  power  of  human 
genius  ?  The  barren  winter  has  been  commanded  to  produce 
the  fruits  of  autumn.— Lib.  vm.  Ep.  lxviii. 


VIII.  J  MOVEABLES.  277 

(III.) 

Winter,  O  Caesar  !  gives  you  forced  (festinatas)  chaplets ; 
formerly  the  rose  was  a  flower  of  the  spring,  now  it  is  of  your 
bidding. — Lib.  xm.  Ep.  cxxvu. 

(IV.) 

Go,  fortunate  Rose  !  {I,felix  Rosa)  and  with  your  delicate 
garland  gird  round  the  hairs  of  my  Apollinaris ;  which  re- 
member to  encircle  when  they  shall  become  white  after  many 
years  from  this  time  :  so  may  Yenus  ever  love  you. — Lib.  vn. 
Ep.  LXXXIX. 

(V.) 

Why  do  you  send  me,  0  Polla,  untouched  chaplets? 
I  prefer  Roses  that  you  have  much  handled,  (vexatas). — 
Lib.  xi.  Ep.  xc. 

Becker,  in  an  Excursus  on  the  Gardens,  in  his  Gallus,  quotes,  at 
length,  the  first  three  of  the  above  epigrams,  with  reference  to  the 
use  of  greenhouses  by  the  Romans ;  and  he  refers  to  several  others  of 
Martial  relating  to  fruits  and  flowers,  directly  or  incidentally :  as 
thus,  in  the  course  of  one,  the  poet  speaks  of  lilies  in  greenhouses : 

Condita  sic  puro  numerantur  lilia  vitro, 
Sic  prohibet  tenuis  gemma  latere  rosas. 

Santeuil's  inscriptions  for  the  Orangery  at  Chantilly  are  similar 
in  idea,  and,  possibly,  may  have  had  reference  to  the  above  epigrams : 
they  were,  Hie  hy ernes  nil  juris  habent  (Here  winters  have  no  do- 
minion), on  one  side  of  the  building,  and,  on  the  other,  Alienis  rnen- 
sibus  cestas  (Summer  in  strange  months). 

With  regard  to  the  fourth  epigram,  it  would  be  an  honour  to 
Martial,  if  we  could,  as  it  may  be  thought  we  may,  attribute  to  it 
any  share  in  the  origin  or  execution  of  Waller's  beautiful  ode,  com- 
mencing, "Go,  lovely  Rose!"  In  both  the  Rose  is  personally 
addressed ;  in  both,  is  sent  upon  an  errand,  the  command  to  execute 
which  is,  in  both,  made  the  inception  of  the  poem  or  epigram. 

Some  expressions  in  the  fourth  epigram  (sed  olim)  may  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  rose  mentioned  in  it  was  of  wax.     The  roses  in  the 


278  MAKTIAL    AND    THE    MODERNS.  [OH. 

fifth  epigram  were  natural.  Drummond  has  a  sonnet,  in  which  he 
attributes  the  excelling  hue  and  fragrance  of  a  rose  to  its  having 
been  worn  and  kissed  by  his  mistress. 


CXCIV. 

ONION. 

As  often  as  you  eat  the  shreds  which  smell  of  the  Taren- 
tine  onion,  give  kisses  with  your  mouth  shut. — Lib.  xiii. 
Ep.  XYIII. 

In  the  epigrams  on  Roman  suppers  it  has  been  seen  that  the 
onion  (porrum)  was  in  great  request  for  sharpening  the  appetite 
in  the  gustus.  Swift,  if  he  did  not  borrow  from  Martial,  has  re- 
garded onions  in  the  same  points  of  view,  both  as  regards  kissing  and 
eating,  in  one  of  the  ditties  he  wrote  for  market-women : 

Come,  follow  me  by  the  smell, 
Here  are  delicate  onions  to  sell; 

I  promise  to  use  you  well. 
They  make  the  blood  warmer, 
You'll  feed  like  a  farmer; 
For  it  is  every  cook's  opinion, 
No  savoury  dish  without  an  onion. 
But,  lest  your  kissing  should  be  spoil'd, 
Your  onions  must  be  thoroughly  boil'd: 

Or  else  you  may  spare 

Your  mistress  a  share, 
The  secret  will  never  be  known; 

She  cannot  discover 

The  breath  of  her  lover, 
But  think  it  as  sweet  as  her  own. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  279 

cxcv. 

PORCELAIN. 

(I.) 
If  you  drink  your  wine  warmed,  porcelain  (rnyrrha)  is  of 
an  excellence  suitable  to  the  fiery  Falernian,  and  improves 
its  flavour. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  cxin. 

(u.) 

We,  your  guests,  Ponticus,  drink  out  of  glass,  you  out  of 

porcelain.    Why?    Lest  if  our  glasses  were  transparent  like 

yours,  they  would    betray  the  secret  of  your  drinking  a 

different  kind  of  wine  from  what  you  give  us. — Lib.  iv.  Ep. 

LXXXVI. 

Jeremy  Taylor  appears  to  have  misconceived  the  first  of  the  above 
epigrams;  in  writing  of  the  death  of  Christ,  he  quotes  the  epigram, 
observing,  "  By  the  piety  of  his  disciples,  and,  it  is  probable,  of  those 
good  women  which  did  use  to  minister  unto  him,  there  was  provided 
some  wine  mingled  with  myrrh,  which,  among  the  Levantines,  is  an 
excellent  and  pleasant  mixture,  and  such  as,  by  the  piety  and  in- 
dulgence of  the  nations,  used  to  be  administered  to  condemned  per- 
sons." Raderus,  who,  in  reference  to  this  epigram,  has  a  long  dis- 
quisition on  the  subject  of  myrrhine  vessels,  observes,  "  Hie  tamen 
prius  velim,  nihil  de  vino  myrrhato  dictum  iri :  aliud  illud  prorsus  est 
ab  hoc  Falerno  ex  myrrhinis  tantum  hausto."  He  says  that  it  was 
usual  to  drink  Falernian  out  of  gold  or  silver,  and  that  Martial  here 
puts  in  a  claim  to  that  honour  for  porcelain. 

Sir  E.  Lytton  introduces  at  Pompeii  "  vases  of  that  lost  myrrhine 
fabric,  so  glowing  in  its  colours,  so  transparent  in  its  material,  which 
were  crowned  with  the  exotics  of  the  East."  Becker  has  adorned 
Galluss  house  with  "  myrrhine  vases."  Milton,  as  quoted  under  the 
epigram  concerning  a  bazaar,  writes  of  "  crystal  and  myrrhine  cups." 


280 


MARTIAL  AND   THE    MODERNS. 


[OH. 


CXCVL 


CHASINGS   OF  METALS. 


(i.) 


Whose  workmanship  is  displayed  in  that  phiala  (a  species 
of  cup)?  Is  it  that  of  the  skilful  Mys,  or  of  Myron?  Have 
we  here  the  hand  of  Mentor,  or  yours,  Polycletus  ?  It  is  not 
darkened  by  any  spot,  and  the  purity  of  its  metal  has  nothing 
to  fear  from  the  test  of  fire.  Electrum  (four  parts  gold,  a 
fifth  silver)  glistens  with  a  less  yellow  metal,  and  its  beau- 
tiful pustules  surpass  ivory  in  whiteness.  The  workmanship 
does  not  yield  to  the  material ;  it  may  be  compared  to  the 
full  moon  encompassing  the  earth  with  its  rays.  There  is 
chased  a  goat  clad  with  iEolic  (golden)  fleece,  like  that  of 
the  famous  aries  of  Phryxus,  but  on  which  his  sister  Helle 
might  have  preferred  to  have  been  carried.  The  Cinyphian 
sheep-shearer  would  have  forborne  to  shear  such  beautiful 
hair,  and  you,  Bacchus,  would  have  permitted  this  goat  to 
browse  on  your  vine.  A  golden  Cupid  that  is  riding  on  the 
goat  flaps  its  back  with  two  wings,  and  plays  on  his  Palladian 
pipe  with  his  tender  mouth ;  like  as  when  the  dolphin  carried 
Arion,  no  mute  burden,  over  the  seas.  Let  no  vulgar  slave, 
but  your  hand,  my  beautiful  cup-bearer,  Cestus,  imbue  this 
excellent  gift  with  nectar.  0  Cestus,  the  honour  of  my  table, 
mix  Setine  wine :  the  lovely  boy  and  the  goat  he  rides  both 
appear  to  me  to  be  thirsty.  Let  the  letters  of  Rufus  assign 
the  number  of  cyathi,  for  he  was  the  donor  of  this  valued 
present. — Lib.  Tin.  Ep.  li. 


(ii.) 

The  lizard  carved  on  your  cup  by  the  magic  hand  of  Men- 
tor seems  actually  alive,  and  the  spectator  starts  in  alarm  at 
the  silver.— Lib.  in.  Ep.  xli. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  281 

(III.) 

Do  you  behold  yon  fishes,  a  beautiful  specimen,  in  toreutic 
work,  of  the  Phidian  art?  Give  them  water,  and  they  will 
swim  away. — Lib.  in.  Ep.  xxxv. 

(IV.) 

Although  I  am  ruddy  from  my  material  being  of  noble 
Callaic  gold,  yet  I  have  greater  pride  in  my  workmanship,  for 
it  is  that  of  Mys. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  xcv. 

Becker,  in  his  description  of  the  furniture  of  Gallus's  house,  writes, 
"The  Egyptian  saloon  surpassed  the  rest  in  magnificence.  Not  a 
single  silver  or  golden  vessel  stood  in  it  that  was  not  made  by  the 
most  celebrated  toreutce,  and  possessed  a  higher  value  from  the  beauty 
of  its  workmanship  than  from  the  costliness  of  its  material.  There 
was  a  cup  by  the  hand  of  Phidias,  ornamented  with  fishes  that  seemed 
only  to  want  water,  to  enable  them  to  swim :  on  another  was  a  lizard 
by  Mentor,  and  so  exact  a  copy  of  nature  that  the  hand  almost  started 
bach  on  touching  it :  then  came  a  broad  bowl,  the  handle  of  which 
was  a  ram  with  a  golden  fleece  more  beautiful  than  that  brought  by 
Phryxus  to  Colchis,  and  upon  it  a  dainty  Cupid;  the  artist's  name 
was  unknown,  but  all  were  unanimous  in  thinking  that  Mys  and 
Myron,  Mentor  and  Polycletus,  had  equal  claims  to  the  honour  of  its 
construction." 


CXCVII. 
BASKET. 


I  came  a  barbarous  (barbara)  basket  from  the  painted  Bri- 
tons (pictis  Britannis) ;  but  now  Rome  prefers  to  call  me  her 
own. — Lib.  xiv.  Ep.  xcix. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies,  remarks  that  "  Martial  confesseth  baskets 
to  have  been  a  British  invention,  though  Rome  afterwards  laid  claim 
thereunto : 

I,  foreign  basket,  first  in  Britain  known, 
And  now  by  Rome  accounted  for  her  own." 


282  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

He  mentions,  as  pertinent  to  the  epigram,  the  making  of  baskets  in 
Cambridgeshire,  by  the  splitting  of  osiers  into  small  threads  that 
were  dyed;  which,  he  says,  was  a  manufacture  of  considerable  im- 
portance. Dr  Johnson,  in  his  Dictionary,  cites,  for  the  etymology  of 
the  word  basket,  the  first  line  of  the  above  epigram. 


CXCVIIL 

BELT. 

This  is  a  decoration  of  warfare,  and  a  mark  of  gratifying 
honour ;  it  is  worthy  to  gird  the  side  of  a  tribune. — Lib.  xiv. 
Ep.  xxxii. 

Sir  Henry  Spelman,  in  his  Dissertation  on  Knighthood  ("De 
Milite  Dissertatio"),  has  a  chapter  on  the  belting  of  knights,  wherein 
he  treats  of  five  purposes  which  the  belt  was  to  serve  (munire,  ornare, 
distinguere,  legionem  notare,  and  arma  sustinere).  In  the  course  of 
his  remarks  he  writes,  "  Sic  a  veterrimis  sseculis  ad  nostram  setatem 
(qua  maxime  floret)  perductum  vides  cingendi  hunc  morem :  De  quo 
dicam,  ut  Martialis,  de  Parazonio: 

Militise  decus  hoc,  et  grati  nomen  honoris; 
Arma  tribunicium  cingere  digna  latus. 

Hinc  Cingulum,  velut  militise  dignitatumque  compendium,  in  eisdem 
conferendis  optatissimum." 


CXCIX. 

NAPKIN. 


Hermogenes  has  stolen  as  many  napkins  as  the  thief 
Massa  has  stolen  sesterces;  although  you  watch  his  right 
hand,  and  hold  his  left,  he  will  find  means  to  steal  your  nap- 
kin (mappam):  thus  the  stag  prolongs  its  life  by  absorbing 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  283 

cold  snakes ;  thus  the  rainbow  diverts  the  showers  which  fall 
from  the  clouds.  Lately,  when  the  spectators  at  the  amphi- 
theatre were  implored  to  spare  the  life  of  the  gladiator  My- 
rinus,  who  had  been  wounded,  Hermogenes  contrived  to  steal 
four  napkins.  When  the  preetor  was  recently  about  to  start 
the  horses  in  the  circus  by  letting  fall  his  chalked  napkin 
{mittere  mappam),  he  could  not  find  it,  for  it  had  been  stolen 
by  Hermogenes.  His  thefts  had  become  so  notorious,  that 
guests  ceased  to  bring  napkins  to  supper ;  in  revenge,  he  stole 
table-cloths;  driven  from  those,  he  committed  thefts  on  the 
couches,  and  on  the  feet  of  tables.  Although  the  sun  is 
shining  with  intense  heat  during  a  spectacle,  the  awnings  are 
withdrawn  at  the  sight  of  Hermogenes.  The  trembling  sailors 
double-reef  their  sails  whenever  Hermogenes  appears  at  any 
harbour.  The  bare-headed  priests  of  Isis  with  their  sistrums 
((bums)  fear  for  their  linen  dresses  when  Hermogenes  is  in 
sight,  and  run  away.  Hermogenes  never  was  known  to  have 
taken  a  napkin  to  a  supper;  he  never  was  known  to  have 
come  away  from  a  supper  without  one. — Lib.  xn.  Ep.  xxix. 

Becker  holds  that  each  guest  at  Roman  tables  brought  his  own 
mappa;  for  which  he  cites  as  an  authority  the  above  epigram,  with 
another  by  Martial,  wherein  the  poet  complains  of  one  of  his  guests 
sweeping  off  a  great  part  of  the  delicacies,  and  sending  them  home,  by 
his  slave,  in  a  mappa;  upon  which  the  poet  wittily  observes  to  his 
guest,  that  he  was  not  invited  for  the  morrow.  Cras  te,  Cceciliane, 
non  vocavi. 

The  expression  in  the  above  epigram,  of  mittere  mappam,  explains 
a  passage  in  Tertullian  Be  Spectaculis,  wherein  he  says  that  when  the 
praetor  had  dropt  his  napkin,  a  thousand  voices  shouted  misit  ("he 
has  thrown  it"),  though  the  people  had  all  seen  it  drop,  so  that 
the  information  was  superfluous.  The  throwing  of  the  mappa  has 
been  supposed  to  have  originally  signified  that  the  Emperor  had 
finished  his  supper.  Dr  Smith  attributes  the  general  use  of  mappce 
to  the  circumstance  that  the  ancients  had  no  forks ;  Becker  says  that 
the  Romans,  in  eating,  made  great  use  of  the  hare  finger. 


284  MARTIAL  AND  THE  MODERNS.  [CH. 

CC. 

TABLE  UTENSILS   AND   ATTIRE 

Do  you  behold  yon  one-eyed  man?  He  must  not  be 
disregarded,  with  contempt :  Homer's  Autolycus  had  never  a 
more  pitchy  hand  (piceata  manus).  Be  cautious  about  in- 
viting him  as  a  guest;  on  such  occasions  he  appears  to  see 
with  both  eyes.  Your  troubled  waiters  lose  their  cups  and 
their  spoons  (ligulas);  he  warms  many  napkins  (mappa) 
in  the  fold  of  his  dress.  He  is  skilled  in  niching  a  pallium 
(upper  cloak),  if  it  drop  from  his  neighbour's  arm,  and  he 
often  walks  from  table  clad  in  two  surtouts  (Icenis  duabus). 
He  does  not  blush  to  steal  a  lanthorn  (lucernd),  though  it  be 
lighted,  from  a  sleeping  slave.  If  he  has  been  foiled  in  every 
attempt  of  theft  upon  his  host  and  the  company,  he  practises 
some  stratagem  by  which  he  is  enabled  to  steal  his  own 
slippers  (soleas)  from  his  own  boy. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  lix. 

The  motto  of  the  18th  number  of  the  Connoisseur,  written  by  the 
Earl  of  Cork,  is  taken  from  the  above  epigram. 

Nihil  est  furacius  illo, 
Non  fuit  Autolyci  tarn  piceata  manus. 
Could  he  have  filch' d  but  half  so  sly  as  thee, 
Crook-fingered  Jack  had  scap'd  the  triple  tree. 

The  paper  is  on  the  subject  of  the  dishonesty  of  Connoisseurs,  of 
whose  depredations  several  amusing  particulars  are  related. 

Becker,  in  the  Excursus  of  his  Gallus,  concerning  Table  Utensils, 
and  that  on  Male  Attire,  refers  to  the  above  epigrams,  and  several  others 
in  Martial,  who  has,  indeed,  supplied  him  with  .interesting  materials 
throughout  his  book.  He  mentions  the  practice  alluded  to  in  the 
above  epigram,  of  taking  off  the  soleas  on  reclining  for  a  meal,  and 
putting  them  on  again  upon  rising  from  table.  It  is  remarkable 
that  Catullus  threatens  a  guest  who  had  stolen  some  of  his  table- 
linen  with  his  left  hand,  that,  if  he  does  not  restore  it,  he  will  be 
punished  with  three  hundred  hendecasyllables. 


VIII.]  MOVEABLES.  285 

CCI. 

ABOLLA. 

Crispinus  did  not  heed  to  whom  he  gave  his  Tyrian  abolla 
(cloak  used  at  suppers)  when  he  changed  his  dress,  and 
resumed  his  toga.  Whoever  has  got  it,  we  pray  thee,  restore 
it  to  its  proper  shoulders.  It  is  not  Crispinus,  but  his  abolla 
requires  this  of  thee ;  for  it  is  not  every  one  to  whom  a  dress 
dyed  with  purple  is  suitable ;  that  colour  is  exclusively  appro- 
priated to  luxury.  If  thou  art  addicted  to  theft,  and  feelest  a 
craving  thirst  for  gain,  take  a  toga,  not  an  abolla;  there  will 
be  less  danger  of  detection. — Lib.  viii.  Ep.  xlviii. 

There  is  not  much  pith  in  the  above  epigram,  but  its  application 
has  been  somewhat  curious.  Dry  den  was  in  the  habit  of  prefixing 
one  or  more  mottos,  generally  Latin,  to  his  plays  and  poems:  a 
motto  which  he  has  prefixed  to  his  play  of  the  Spanish  Friar  is, 

Ut  melius  possis  fallere,  siune  togam. 

The  principal  incident  in  the  play  of  the  Spanish  Friar  turns  on  a 
gallant  assuming  &  friar's  cloak  for  the  purpose  of  intrigue.  This  was 
one  of  the  most  popular  of  Dryden' s  dramas,  and  it  is  remarkable  on 
several  accounts.  Written  during  the  violence  of  the  persecutions  for 
the  Popish  Plot,  its  object  is  to  ridicule  and  stigmatize  Popish  priests, 
the  principal  character  being  a  profligate  friar.  Among  other  sar- 
casms on  the  Papists,  absolution  is  called  "lulling  with  church-opium." 
Hence  this  play  forms  a  singular  contrast  to  subsequent  writings  of 
Dryden,  after  he  became  a  convert  to  Romanism.  Moreover,  this 
was  the  only  play  which  James  II.  prohibited  to  be  acted.  After  the 
Revolution,  it  was  the  first  play  represented  by  order  of  Queen  Mary. 
Her  Majesty  was  present  at  the  representation,  when  several  passages, 
specified  in  Scott's  Dryden,  from  the  serious  part  of  the  play,  were 
applied  by  the  audience  in  a  manner  to  show  their  sentiments  of  the 
queen's  unfilial  conduct  towards  her  father,  James  II.  The  motto 
from  Martial  is  particularly  noticed  by  Dr  Langbaine,  a  contempo- 
rary of  Dryden,  who  published  a  treatise  on  the  English  Dramatic 
Poets,  in  1691,  wherein  he  writes,  "  Whether  Mr  Dryden  intended  his 


286 


MARTIAL   AND    THE   MODERNS.  [CH.  VIII. 


character  of  Dominic  as  a  satire  on  the  Romish  Priests  only,  or 
on  the  clergy  of  all  opinions  in  general,  I  know  not;  but  sure  I 
am  that  he  might  have  spared  his  reflecting  quotation  in  the  front 
of  his  play, 

Ut  melius  possis  fallere,  sume  togam. 

But  the  truth  is,  ever  since  a  certain  worthy  bishop  refused  orders  to 
a  certain  poet,  Mr  Dryden  has  declared  open  defiance  to  the  whole 
Clergy." 


APPENDIX. 


A  few  selected  instances  of  modern  uses  of  Martial  are  here 
appended,  which  have  been  omitted  in  the  body  of  the  work,  owing 
to  various  causes. 

The    following    passages    from    Martial,    with    English   poetical 
versions,  were  adopted  by  Dr  Johnson,  as  mottos  for  the  51st,  82nd, 
164th,  166th  and  188th  numbers  respectively,  of  the  Rambler: 
Stultus  labor  est  ineptiarum. 
How  foolish  is  the  toil  of  trifling  cares. 

Omnia  Castor  emit,  sic  net  ut  omnia  vendat. 
Who  buys  without  discretion,  buys  to  sell. 

Vitium,  Graure,  Catonis  habes. 

Gaurus  pretends  to  Cato's  fame, 

And  proves,  by  Cato's  vice,  his  claim. 

Pauper  eris  semper,  si  pauper  es,  .ZEmiliane, 

Dantur  opes  nullis  nunc  nisi  divitibus. 
Once  poor,  my  friend,  still  poor  you  must  remain, 
The  rich  alone  have  all  the  means  of  gain. 

Sic  te  colo,  sexte,  non  amabo. 

The  more  I  honour  thee,  the  less  I  love. 

Addison  has  adopted  the  following  passages  from  Martial,  (but 
without  giving  versions)  as  mottos  for  the  47th,  112th,  and  260th 
numbers,  respectively,  of  the  Spectator  : 

Ride,  si  sapis 

Divisum  sic  breve  net  opus. 

Non  cuicunque  datum  est  habere  nasum. 

Jeremy  Taylor  has  quoted,  and  commented  on  the  following  five 
passages  of  Martial: 

Notas  ergo  nimis  fraudes,  deprensaque  furta 

Jam  tollas,  et  sis  ebria  simpliciter. 
Simpliciter  pateat  vitium  fortasse  pusillum, 

Quod  tegitur,  majus  creditur  esse  malum. 


I 


288  APPENDIX. 

Si  sapis,  utaris,  totis,  Colline,  diebus, 
Extremumque  tibi  semper  adesse  putes. 

Mullorum,  leporumque,  et  suminis  exitus  hie  est, 
Sulfureusque  color,  carnificesque  pedes. 

Rape,  congere,  aufer,  posside,  relinquendum  est. 
Ben  Jonson  takes  for  the  motto  of  his  Underwoods, 
Cineri  gloria  sera  venit. 

He  quotes,  at  the  end  of  his  Cynthia's  Revels, 

Ecce  rubet  quidam,  pallet,  stupet,  oscitat,  odit, 
Hoc  volo,  nunc  nobis  carmina  nostra  placent. 

And  in  his  Masque,  entitled  Neptune  s  Triumph, 
Lusus  ipse  triumphus  amat. 

Doering's  Dedication  of  his  edition  of  Catullus  to  Ernest  Duke 
of  Saxe  Gotha,  is  according  to  the  model  of  one  by  Martial;  intro- 
ducing several  passages  from  Martial's  works.  He  appears  thus  to 
allude  to  Martial's  epigram  on  Yindex's  statue  of  Hercules : 

Alciden  modo  Yindicis  rogabam, 

Esset  cujus  opus  laborque  felix? 

Risit:  nam  solet  hoc,  levique  nutu 

Greece  numquid  ait,  poeta  nescis? 

Inscripta  est  basis,  indicatque  nomen. 

"  Lysippou,"  lego. 

Doering  has  it, 

Die,  vates,  pater  elegantiarum, 
Die,  quo  vindice  tutus  ambularisl 
Respondit  mihi,  leniter  susurrans1? 
(Ut  solent  animse  beationum) 
"  Ernesto,  patriae  pio  parenti." 

The  Author  of  a  poem  in  the  Musoe  Anglicanm  on  the  death  of 

the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  in  1660,  appears  to  have  imitated  Martial's 

line, 

Yive  tuo,  frater,  tempore,  vive  meo. 

In  the  Musm  Anglicanoz,  it  is, 

Quin  demptos  fratri  superaddite  fratribus  annos. 
Goldsmith  has  taken  the  line, 

Ille  dolet  vere  qui  sine  teste  dolet, 


APPENDIX.  289 

as  the  motto  of  his  City  Night  Piece,  consisting  of  lamentations  over 
London  at  2  o'clock  A.  M. 

Martial's  line. 

Hoc  rogo,  non  furor  est,  ne  moriare,  mori, 
seems  alluded  to  by  Sir  J.  Denham,  in  his  Cato  Major : 

Such  madness  as  for  fear  of  death  to  die, 
Is  to  be  poor  for  fear  of  poverty. 

The  well-known  line, 

Qui  nobis  pereunt,  et  imputantur, 

may  have  been  referred  to  by  Young,  in  his  comparison  of  Life  to  a 
Sun-dial : 

Man  must  compute  that  age  he  cannot  feel. 

George  Lamb  refers,  in  a  note,  to  Martial  for  Silius  Italicus's 
union  of  poetry  with  law : 

Proque  suo  celebrat  nunc  Helicona  foro. 
Lamb  has  it, 

To  Silius'  claim  did  later  times  afford 
The  joint  renown  of  Advocate  and  Bard. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies  of  Warwickshire,  laments  the  dearth  of 
Maecenases,  and,   in   anticipation  of  the    "Farmer's   Boy,"  and  the 
"  Ettrick  Shepherd,"  quotes  from  Martial,  with  a  version  : 
Sint  Msecenates,  non  deerunt,   Flacce,   Marones, 

Yirgiliumque  tibi  vel  tua  rura  dabunt. 
Let  not  Maecenases  be  scant, 
And  Maros  we  shall  never  want ; 
For,   Flaccus,  then  thy  country  field 
Shall  unto  thee  a  Yirgil  yield. 

As  nothing  is  quoted  from  Crashaw  in  the  body  of  this  work, 
his  translation  of  an  indifferent  Epigram  of  Martial  is  here  given ;  it 
is  his  only  version  from  the  works  of  that  poet ;  his  own  compositions 
are  chiefly  on  divine  subjects. 

Si  memini,  fuerant  tibi  quatuor,  ^Elia,  dentes : 

Exspuit  una  duos  tussis,   et  una  duos. 
Jam  secura  potes  totis  tussire  diebus; 
Nil  istic,   quod  agat,  tertia  tussis  habet. 
mart.  u 


290  APPENDIX. 

Four  teeth  thou  hadst,  that,   ranked  in  goodly  state, 

Kept  thy  mouth's  gate : 
The  first  blast   of  thy  cough  left  two  alone, 

The  second   none. 
This  last  cough,  ^Elia,   coughed  out  all  thy  fear, 
Thou'st  left  a  third  cough  now  no  business  here. 

Rogers,  in  his  poem  of  Italy  relies  upon  a  line  of  Martial, 
Psestano  violas,  et  cana  ligustra  colono, 
for  the  scent  of  violets  at  Psestum. 

The  air  is  sweet  with  violets,  running  wild 
'Mid  broken  friezes,  and  fallen  capitals; 
Sweet,  as  when   Tully,   writing   down  his  thoughts, 
Sailed  slowly  by,   two  thousand  years  ago, 
For  Athens ;  where  a  ship,   if  north-east  winds 
Blew  from   the   Psestan  gardens,   slacked  her  course. 
Fuller,  in  his  Worthies,  when  relating  the  Proverbs  of  Notting- 
hamshire,  in  which  county  lies  the  village  of  Gotham,  cites  a  line 
from  Martial, 

Abderitanae  pectora  plebis  habes, 
in  illustration   of  a  proverbial  saying  which  is  well  known   under 
several  modifications,  but  which  he  thus  gives, 

"As  wise  as  a  man  of  Gotham." 


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